


where red paints the ocean (and gold heals all wounds)

by redambrosia



Series: painting the ocean [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, Blake as mysterious new sailor, Drinking, F/F, Featuring, Fuck Ironwood, Gay Panic, Pining, Ruby as the captain, Sailing, Sword Fighting, Weiss as the helmswoman, Yang as first mate, and not in a good way, gratuitous sea shanties, more tags to add later, there could be a bit of other ships if you squint, yang is a gay mess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:27:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24851560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redambrosia/pseuds/redambrosia
Summary: “So…what’s your name?”Those eyes were cataloguing her again, and it was enough to make Yang’s casual posture a little more tense, a little less relaxed. Something about them made her understand other pirates’ obsession with riches; there was enough gold in her eyes to make Yang ache, quickly and suddenly, for whatever treasures this woman hid inside her mind.“Blake,” the woman said, one of the cat ears atop her head twitching. “My name is Blake.”or: the bumbleby pirate au that’s been rattling around in my head for ages
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Series: painting the ocean [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1797868
Comments: 45
Kudos: 155





	1. The Mystery Woman

If there was one thing that Yang Xiao Long knew, it was the sea.

The sea was many things. It was cold and unforgiving. It could have storms and riptides and hurricanes whose fury she knew all too well. It’s cost good sailors their lives and left bad sailors in pieces. Its waves held secrets and dangers and things that sailors only whispered about when they were given the appropriate amounts of liquid courage.

But she also knew that the ocean held beauty unlike anything she had ever seen anywhere else. It held gorgeous creatures and sunsets of legend. Its waves washed up treasures and sea glass and more than its fair share of adventures. But most of all, the waves held  _ freedom _ and  _ family _ ; two things that Yang simply could not live without.

When she was a child, Summer had told her all about her adventures on the seas. She’d spoken of waves that reflected the setting and rising sun so perfectly it was as if she had entered another plane of existence; of whales larger than a man-of-war; of relics of old stories washing up on shore or hitting the side of a sailboat.

Yang was, of course, instantly enamoured. Ruby was too, almost before she could articulate what sailing even was. They were raised on stories of Taiyang and Summer’s exploits on the seas, before Taiyang settled down on Patch and Summer began sailing for exploration’s sake alone.

Of course, the harsh reality of the sea slapped Yang and Ruby both in the face when they were barely old enough to start to learn how to sail. One day, Summer set off on a voyage and never returned. A few weeks after she left, sailors brought back news of a horrible hurricane and a small ship with a rose painted on the sail that had been completely demolished.

Yang―who had already been on a handful of explorations and fishing expeditions with Summer―didn’t go near the sea for years after that. It was too harsh, too briny and hungry for her taste. And besides, she had other things to take care of, like Ruby (or so she’d told herself at night when she could hear the waves and her chest would  _ ache  _ for the stories that Summer would tell _ ) _ .

Eventually, Yang would return to the sea, just as the tide always returned to the shore. It wasn’t gradual, but more like a sudden plunge into warm water.

Food prices on the island of Patch had never been great, but the Xiao Long-Rose household had always managed. Taiyang threw himself into his work after Summer’s death, which meant that they had enough money under normal circumstances. However, the summer that Yang turned fourteen, the fish in the harbor of Patch had been scarce. Fish was the island’s main export, which meant that the economic backlash was somewhat disastrous for families like theirs.

After another night of giving Ruby the better part of their food to make sure she stayed strong, Yang resolved to herself that she would do everything in her power to protect her family. And that would mean venturing back onto the sea.

It was a clumsy event, at first. She’d had to untangle her father’s old sailboat from nets and old tools, and by the time she actually got it back on the water, it was a mad scramble to remember everything she had learned when she was younger.

But Yang had always learned best by being “thrown into the deep end,” as Summer had put it, so really no one should have been surprised when she docked the old ship in port the next day with a bag of fish from beyond the harbor.

(She’d gotten lost for a day, but no one needed to know that.)

And thus, Yang’s love of the sea was resparked in her chest.

**|||**

Now, nearly ten years later, Yang Xiao Long stood on the stern of the  _ Crescent Rose  _ and breathed in the scent of the sea, tasting nostalgia as well as salt on her tongue. Weather like this sparked memories that had almost as much power as the approaching storm. For some reason, turbulent weather always seemed to change something in her life, no matter what she did to avoid it.

“You’re up early,” a voice said from beside her. 

Yang turned to find Ruby standing behind her, arms placed innocently behind her back and looking for all the world like a young twenty-something just leaving home than the captain of a pirate ship currently wanted for crimes against the Atlas navy. She wasn’t wearing her customary red buccaneer coat (“It’s called a color scheme, Yang!”), and her tunic was wrinkled and untucked, signalling she had just woken up.

“I could say the same thing to you,” Yang said, crossing her arms and leaning against the railing. “What, had too much sugar before bed again?”

_ “Yaaaang,” _ Ruby whined, pouting in a way that was probably unbefitting for the captain of a ship but was so adorably  _ Ruby. _ “That happened  _ one time!” _

Yang snorted and captured her sister in a headlock, ruffling her hair playfully as Ruby tried and failed to escape. 

“Ugh,  _ must  _ you be so energetic this early in the morning?”

Yang and Ruby, still wrestling, turned to find Weiss with arms crossed, customary judgemental look on her face. Unlike both Yang and Ruby, Weiss was already impeccably dressed in her blue coat, rapier at her side and tunic buttoned flawlessly, without a wrinkle in sight. If Yang hadn’t known that Weiss spent an inordinate amount of time ironing her clothes in her free time, she would have been impressed.

“Oh, come on, Weiss!” Ruby said, her head still in Yang’s grip. “You’re just jealous that you can’t be this happy in the mornings!”

“What’s  _ that  _ supposed to mean?”

“It means that we need to restock on coffee, apparently,” Yang quipped, snorting at the glare the Schnee sent her way.

“Would you care to release our…brave captain, Yang?”

Yang and Ruby looked at each other.

“Nope,” Yang said.

Ruby stomped on her foot. Yang yelped and hopped away, cradling her boot in an exaggerated display of comedy that she knew would make her sister laugh and the ex-Atlas navy sailor snort.

“Your fearless leader is ready!” Ruby exclaimed, hands on her hips and shirt still horribly untucked and messy.

“I quake on the behalf of our enemies,” Weiss said dryly.

But Ruby was in business mode now, and already tucking her shirt in. “Yang, wake the crew. Weiss, take the helm. We have important things to do today!”

Weiss rolled her eyes, but the upward twitch to her lips betrayed her fondness. She could hide it all she wanted, but everyone on the ship knew how far she’d come since they’d met.

Yang put her feet together and straightened as she put two fingers to her head in a parody of the Atlesian salute. “Yes, Captain Ruby, sir!”

Ruby giggled, and Yang ran off to wake the crew for the day.

**|||**

“What do you think, Nora?” Yang shouted up at the crow nest. She was never really sure if anyone could hear her from up there, but she was really the only one who could try―she had the largest voice out of all the crew members, other than Nora.

Somehow, though, Nora’s voice always came back as if she were standing right next to her.

“Oh, there’s a  _ big  _ storm coming!” she exclaimed, with far too much excitement in her voice. Yang could just barely make out her figure jumping up and down excitedly in the crow’s nest, despite the fact that a fall from that height would be fatal even if she fell in the water. Nora had a knack for picking out what would be a deadly storm from a simple deluge of rain, with her strange attraction to lightning and thunder.

“From what direction?” Yang reminded her, squinting up at the head of red hair.

It was silent for a moment―or at least, as quiet as it could be on a pirate ship. Then Nora bellowed down, “Northeast!”

Yang cursed under her breath. That’s what Pyrrha had said too, but Ruby had wanted a second opinion from their resident storm expert before they made any major decisions.

After yelling up her thanks, Yang sighed and made her way back up to the top deck, where Ruby, back against the railing, was chatting with Weiss as she steered the ship. Yang took her yellow handkerchief and wiped the sweat off her forehead before stuffing it back into her pocket and joining her sister at the railing.

“Pyrrha was right. Storm’s coming from the northeast. We’ll have to go around it,” she said, tugging down the sleeve of her own brown buccaneer coat and reconsidering her decision to wear it. Despite the approaching storm, it was  _ hot. _

Weiss let out a long-suffering sigh. “That’s going to cost us at least a day of travel.”

“It’ll also bring us closer to the Atlas fleet,” Ruby observed, thoughtfully rubbing the hilt of her cutlass. 

“I’ll get word to the rest of the crew, tell them to be quiet for the next day or two,” Yang said, resting her arms behind her head and stretching her back. “We’ve snuck past them before, should be no problem.”

“And if we’re lucky, the navy will go farther west to avoid the last traces of the storm,” Weiss added. Her back was turned, but Yang could imagine her eye roll. “Gods forbid they get rain in their sails.”

“Yang, have Ren send a pigeon to Robin, tell her that we’ll be a day or two behind schedule,” Ruby said, straightening and dusting off her crimson coat. “We should still have plenty of time to put things together, though, right?”

“Maybe,” Weiss said, sounding hesitant. “If we hurry.”

“Good enough for me! Maybe if we―”

“There’s a person adrift out there!” Jaune’s voice shouted out.

Yang immediately snapped to attention, pushing herself off the railing and looking down to where Jaune pointed into the water. Sure enough, a dark shape on the water bobbed in the distance, and she could barely make out a person’s head above the waves.

“Weiss, steer us toward them,” Ruby was already commanding, even as Yang shed her coat, boots, and weapons and rushed down to Jaune’s side next to the ratlines.

“Jaune, tell the others to get a rope ready,” she told him. “We’re not letting anyone drown today.”

As the ship got closer to the person cast adrift, Yang felt her adrenaline spike as she noticed the fins in the water circling them. The reason why became obvious after a few more moments: a thin cloud of blood floated around the figure, who was very clearly unconscious yet somehow still clinging to a large piece of driftwood.

“And make it quick,” Yang said, paling. She  _ hated _ sharks.

As soon as the  _ Crescent Rose _ was close enough, she took a deep breath before launching herself into the ocean, a rope tied around her waist and hoping that the sharks would find her unappetizing. She broke the surface a moment later, shivering in the cold water.

Yang was a strong swimmer and always had been, so the current that tugged at her wasn’t much of a problem. The sharks, on the other hand…

They circled around the castaway, who Yang could now see was a woman, a faunus with black cat ears. For the time being, they ignored Yang, but she knew that would be temporary. Once they got a bit of the mystery woman and more blood was spilled in the water, it would be a frenzy.

She hesitated for a moment, but the calls of the crew behind her kept her moving. She trusted them with her life. The minute she grabbed onto the woman, they’d reel them both back in.

All that Yang had to do was get past the deadly creatures with multiple rows of razor-sharp teeth. 

Piece of cake.

Fortunately, Taiyang had taught both Yang and Ruby how to deal with sharks when they were old enough to swim. It was unorthodox, but it worked.

Yang dove underwater once more, ignoring the stinging of salt in her eyes. She waited until the shark primarily in front of the mystery woman turned to look at her, then Yang used the extra strength granted to her by her prosthetic limb to punch it directly in the nose.

The shark shook its head and took off almost immediately, and Yang took the opportunity to swim to the surface and wrap an arm around the woman’s waist.

Instantly, the rope around Yang’s waist tugged her backwards,  _ hard _ , almost knocking whatever breath she’d managed to recover out of her lungs. The sharks reacted to the sudden movement without hesitation, lunging after her with all of their vicious teeth.

Yang kicked one away with a snarl of her own, suddenly grateful she’d forgotten to take her boots off. Up on the ship, someone called her name, and the woman in her arms groaned weakly.

“Guys, get me  _ out of here!” _ Yang shouted.

_ Yank! _

“Oof!” Yang’s shoulders jerked painfully as someone (probably Nora) tugged hard on the rope and she was jerked out of the water, barely holding on to the mystery woman right as another shark leaped out of the water, intent on taking a chunk out of their flesh.

Yang kicked that one extra hard, feeling the impact all the way up to her thigh.

Then they were on the deck, landing hard on the wooden surface. Yang managed to angle it so that she would land on her back and the woman wouldn’t be any more harmed than she already was.

Yang grunted as the crew took over, and she took a moment to catch her breath before she sat up. Someone wrapped a towel around her shoulders and she gave a grateful smile to her sister before turning her attention back to the mystery woman.

The first thing Yang noticed was that she was dressed like she had just rolled out of bed, with torn clothes and no weapons of any kind. Her skin was littered in scrapes and bruises―with a nasty scrape on one of the black cat ears on top of her head―so she must have taken a beating from the waves…or from someone else. She had midnight-colored hair and beautiful features that would have knocked the air out of Yang’s lungs had she not already been exhausted by her little dip in the ocean.

The most apparent thing, however, was the gaping, x-shaped wound in the woman’s abdomen.

Jaune was on her immediately, barking out commands for medical supplies that sent the crew into a flurry. It was Ruby who suggested the woman be taken to the captain’s quarters until she had fully recovered. Her injuries were extensive, he claimed, so it would no doubt be some time before she woke up.

Yang took a moment to try and towel herself off, but she was stopped with a huff from Weiss as the helmswoman leaned down to inspect her for wounds.

“Weiss, I’m  _ fine,” _ Yang insisted, feeling chilly despite the warm weather. “You should be fussing over that lady we just fished out.”

“Oh, the woman you just swam through shark-infested waters for?” Weiss snarked back, lifting one of Yang’s arms to inspect underneath. When she failed to find any injury after a few more moments, she sighed and shook her head. “I will never understand how you get so lucky all the time.”

Yang waved her prosthetic arm at her. “I think this thing used up all my bad luck for a while.”

“I don’t think that’s how good luck charms work?” Ruby said, helping Yang to her feet. “But I am glad you’re okay. I’d hate to lose my first mate.”

Yang rolled her eyes. “Puh-lease, Rubes. You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried.”

“Bah!” Ruby exclaimed as Yang started to give her another noogie. “Hands off the captain! Th-that’s an order!”

There came laughter from all around, but the crew sobered quickly.

“Is she going to be okay?” Sun asked. His tail swished nervously in the air behind him. Like Weiss (though she would never admit it), he was one of the worrywarts on the ship. He had a big heart, big enough to fit in everyone on board.

“She will be,” Ruby said, nodding determinedly at him. “Jaune is really good at what he does.”

Yang and Ruby shared a look, and she could tell that they were thinking the same thing.

_ What exactly had that woman gotten into? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am not a pirate i don't know how to sail all of my ocean knowledge comes from the one time i swam in the ocean like three years ago and also assassin's creed 4 and also a book that my lit teacher made us read like two years ago. don't punch sharks, kids.
> 
> but anyway. welcome. i originally was going to have this be one long ass fic but once i reached 14,000 words i realized that it was probably a good idea to split things up. enjoy the gay pirates.
> 
> i'll probably go through and edit this later, but if you spot any errors, plz tell me! thanks.
> 
> fwi the helmsman (or helmswoman in weiss's case) steers the ship


	2. A Tune and a Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mystery woman wakes. Yang is patient.

Yang could tell that the crew was practically _sweating_ curiosity about the mystery woman, so she took it upon herself to check with Jaune when he finally stepped out of the captain’s quarters, drying his hands with a rag.

“What’s the verdict, doc?” she asked, frowning as she caught sight of the unconscious woman before the door closed. She looked even paler than before.

“Well, she took quite the beating from _someone,_ ” Jaune said, brow furrowed. “Sharks don’t make deep, precise stab wounds like that. Some of it is probably from being out in the ocean so long, but I’m honestly surprised she made it with all the blood she lost. It’s a miracle that the sharks didn’t go after her any earlier.”

Yang’s frown deepened. “Are you saying someone tried to kill her and then tossed her into the ocean as shark bait?”

He shrugged. “That would be my guess, but we won’t know until she wakes up to tell us for sure. She’ll be okay, as long as I check up on her frequently.”

Yang grinned in an attempt to clear some of the solemnity from the air. “No more patching up Pyrrha’s papercuts, huh?”

Jaune’s face turned a deep shade of red. “I―that’s―navigation can be dangerous!”

She winked at him. “Sure thing, Vomit Boy.”

“Motion sickness is a real condition!”

“Uh-huh, sure it is.”

_“Yang!”_

**|||**

Yang always found the silence of the crew to be somewhat eerie. A ship―whether pirate or navy or merchant―was supposed to be vibrant, full of life. A sea shanty wasn’t a stranger on a ship, and instructions were often shouted over the roar of waves. A silent ship was an anomaly. 

The storm had forced their hand, and it appeared that the Atlas navy had not, in fact, moved much. Fortunately, there was a thin layer of fog that concealed the _Crescent Rose_ from the prying eyes of the ships that were dangerously close, so as long as they were quiet, they were in the clear.

It had been going well so far―that is, until the dull sounds of thrashing and screaming came from the captain’s quarters. Considering that Yang was standing with the ship’s captain on the main deck, that meant that sound’s origins could only be coming from one source.

“Yang!” Ruby whisper-yelled at her, nodding toward the cabin even as Jaune staggered over.

“On it!”

Yang dashed over, reaching the door before Jaune did and opening it for him. Together, they rushed inside, closing the door immediately after them so that no more of the woman’s screaming could escape the confines of the room.

Yang’s vision tunneled down to the bed the woman was lying on, the sheets tangled around her as she thrashed. Her eyes were still screwed tightly shut, and her cat ears were pressed flat against the top of her head. The bandages that Yang could see from under her clothes were soaked through with red, and the way she was moving around probably wasn’t helping anything.

Then she opened her mouth and let out a heart-wrenching whimper followed by a yell, and Yang couldn’t help but wonder what this woman was seeing in her dreams to make her react so violently.

“Yang!” Jaune said, his voice now at normal volume now that they were somewhat shielded by the walls of the cabin. “Help me hold her down! See if you can calm her at all!”

Yang nodded and rushed to the woman’s side, holding her arms down and doing her best to avoid the injuries on the woman’s abdomen as Jaune held down her legs.

If anything, the sudden physical contact seemed to make the woman freak out _more_ , despite the fact that she had yet to open her eyes.

“Hey, hey, shh,” Yang did her best to soothe her as she held her down. It was hard to keep her voice soft, but she did her best, and it seemed to help somewhat.

Jaune shot Yang a frantic look as one of the woman’s legs jerked again, and the woman opened her mouth, presumably to cry out once more.

So Yang did what she’d done when Ruby was young and had had a nightmare. She hummed a tune, softly, under her breath, lest the sound carry outside the cabin. Summer had taught her the skill when she was young.

At first, it didn’t seem to do much, but after a few moments, the woman’s thrashing seemed to subside somewhat, and her loud cries faded to sad little whimpers that tugged painfully on Yang’s heart.

“Okay,” Jaune huffed, releasing the woman’s legs carefully. When they failed to kick him, he relaxed. “I think we should have someone around to keep an eye on her in case that happens again.”

“I’ll talk to Ruby,” Yang said, cautiously releasing the woman’s arms as well. “Maybe we can set up a watch or someth―”

A hand shot out and latched onto Yang’s prosthetic arm without warning, making both pirates jump in alarm as they looked over at the mystery woman…only to have her staring back at them.

Or, more accurately, directly at Yang.

Yang’s heart jumped into her throat as she stared back into golden eyes. The woman’s brow furrowed as she stared at her.

“You’re…” she started, voice barely a whisper.

Then her eyes rolled back into her head and she passed out against her pillow.

Yang blinked, feeling her face redden for reasons she didn’t care to explore right that second. Mostly because Jaune was laughing at her.

“Shut up and change her bandages,” she grumbled at him, crossing her arms and storming toward the door, trying (and failing) not to think of deep amber eyes. “I’m going to fill Ruby in on the situation.”

**|||**

As it turned out, Ruby thought that setting up some kind of watch for the washed up woman was an excellent idea, and various crew members took turns watching her to make sure she didn’t wake up or cause too much of a ruckus. Oddly, most of those on watch took to getting Yang in order to make the woman calm down when she was in the grips of her nightmares. For some reason, only her humming seemed to do the trick in placating her. Either that, or the other crew members weren’t even trying and Jaune had put them up to it. Yang strongly suspected it was the latter.

They were still a few weeks away from land, and Jaune was insistent that the woman needed plenty of rest to recover, so no one really expected her to wake until they reached the shores of Argus. Regardless, she was the hottest topic of gossip amongst the crew members. It wasn’t like she’d had her name stitched into her clothes, so most had simply taken to calling her “the woman” (very creatively, in Yang’s _sincerest_ opinion). Some, like Nora and Sun, had taken to making up stories about how she’d ended up in the water. The current theory was that the woman was a smuggler who’d been hunted down by the Atlas navy for providing supplies to the poor outside of the law. According to Sun, there had been a fair amount of gunfighting, and swordfighting, and…well, fighting in general, but the point was that it had been very exciting. Yang couldn’t help but think that the woman was in for a rude awakening when she eventually did wake up and discover that A: she was on a pirate ship, and B: said pirates had fabricated her whole life story out of sheer _boredom_ and _curiosity._

That is, if she ever woke up. Jaune was confident that she would, but Yang had seen sailors with lesser injuries perish in the middle of the night. With the amount of blood that the woman had lost, and the sheer number of wounds that she’d sustained, it was possible for infection to creep in at any moment. Still, there was something about those pair of golden eyes that kept her thinking that perhaps this woman was tougher than she let on…

She found herself secretly wishing, whenever she would take her own watch over the woman, that she would wake. While Yang wasn’t participating in the made-up stories about the woman, she was just as curious about what had happened to her―if not more so―because of what Jaune had said of her injuries. Who had done this to her? And why?

If Yang was a betting woman―which one round of poker had taught her she was _not_ ―she would have guessed that the woman had been beset upon by pirates. There were plenty ships that roamed the seas who were _not_ as friendly as the _Crescent Rose_ ’s crew. Yang had learned that lesson the hard way. 

But aside from a few more bad dreams, the woman never stirred or opened her eyes. Sometimes, during her watch―which was typically late at night―Yang thought she could feel someone watching her, but whenever she turned around, the woman was as still as ever.

Oh well. Yang could wait.

**|||**

After a few weeks, Jaune told the (rather worried and still quite curious) crew that the woman was healing nicely. Even so, she had yet to wake. Yang supposed that was common for someone who’d been through as much as the faunus woman had.

The ship was about a day away from Argus when all that changed. It was late, as usual, and Yang was sitting on a chair in front of the woman’s cot―which was really Yang’s cot, since Ruby insisted that she and Yang share a living space―sipping coffee and reading some dusty old book she’d found buried somewhere in the hold.

“Night, Yang,” Ruby called, stretching as she headed for her own cot across the room. “Make sure to wake Jaune if anything happens, okay?”

Yang rolled her eyes and took a sip of her coffee. “You say that as if I’d spill boiling hot coffee on her.”

“Please don’t,” the woman said.

Yang choked on her coffee. Ruby tripped over air. In her cot, the mysterious woman smirked.

Ruby rushed over to the woman as Yang cleared her throat and put her coffee and book on Ruby’s desk. When she was sure that she was not, in fact, going to be the next person put under medical watch, she wiped her mouth and looked over at the woman.

The woman…whose eyes were already starting to glaze over from how fast Ruby was talking. 

_(So much for “no more sugar before bed,”_ Yang thought.)

“Ruby!” Yang exclaimed with a smile, patting her sister on the back. “Why don’t you go fetch Jaune so he can have a look at our guest?”

Ruby immediately grinned. “Great idea, Yang! I’ll go get him!” And just like that, there was a whoosh of air, and she was gone.

Yang gave the injured woman a sheepish smile. “Sorry about that. Ruby gets really excited to meet new people. Especially when said new person has been lying unconscious on our ship for a few weeks.”

The woman groaned then, and her hand fluttered down to her side, which was still heavily bandaged. “Thanks for reminding me.”

Yang pulled her chair over to the woman and turned it around so she was sitting backwards on it. “So…what’s your name?”

Those _eyes_ were cataloguing her again, and it was enough to make Yang’s casual posture a little more tense, a little less relaxed. Something about them made her understand a pirate’s obsession with riches; there was enough gold in her eyes to make Yang _ache_ , quickly and suddenly, for whatever treasures this woman hid inside her mind.

“Blake,” the woman said, one of the cat ears atop her head twitching. “My name is Blake.”

“Blake,” Yang repeated, sounding the name out on her tongue. She cracked another smile at her, hoping to put her at ease in such an unfamiliar environment. “My name is Yang.”

Blake winced suddenly, the hand over her bandage tightening. Before Yang could fuss over her, she groaned and put a hand over her eyes.

“I feel like I got hit by a tidal wave.”

Yang chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck. “You…kinda did?” When Blake shot her a somewhat confused look, Yang elaborated. “We found you floating in the middle of the ocean. The sharks almost got you, but luckily we got to you in time.”

“And who is _‘we?’”_ Blake asked, lifting her hand to look Yang in the eyes.

Yang held her gaze for a moment, then looked away, nervously fiddling with the ends of her hair. “Oh, you know, _we_ as in the crew. Of this ship. That you’re on. Which is totally legitimate.”

She almost smacked herself. _Way to give it all away, Yang. Nothing like telling an injured, defenseless woman that she’s on a―_

“Pirate ship,” Blake said, and Yang couldn’t meet her eyes. “This is a pirate ship. You’re…a pirate.”

Yang aimed for humor. That usually helped ease the intimidation factor when people found out about her profession. “Well, I’m _knot_ too _shore_ about you, but I’ve had a _hull_ of a time on this particular pirate ship.”

“Oh,” Blake replied, covering her face with one hand again as her cat ears pressed themselves flat against her skull. “Puns. Great.”

Well, it wasn’t a…terrible reaction? Certainly it was better than others Yang had received. Then again, Blake wasn’t exactly in “running and screaming” condition.

“I suppose that would make you the captain?” her muffled voice came from behind her hands.

Yang actually laughed at that, more in an attempt to ease any discomfort Blake had than anything. “Me? The captain?” She laughed again. “No, that’s my sister Ruby. She was the one who was here earlier, remember?”

Blake was silent, but Yang thought she could see a little facial movement that meant her brow had furrowed.

Blake sighed into her hands. “Are you going to ransom me, or something?” She seemed more mildly annoyed than fearful. Just who _was_ this woman?

“Considering that we have no idea who you are or where you came from? Nope. Not that we would have done that anyway, but…” Yang cleared her throat. “Uh, so no. We don’t do that kind of thing here.”

Another facial tick, hidden by her hands. Yang had no idea how to interpret it, so she let the silence hang until another question floated to the front of her mind.

“Blake,” she eventually said, feeling an unreasonable amount of pleasure from saying her name, “what happened to you?”

Blake froze, her face still covered.

“I…”

It was at that moment that Ruby decided to burst in with Jaune―very dramatically, in fact. As their dad would have said, Ruby had no sense of decorum (or timing, Yang bitterly added).

“Oh!” Jaune said, his voice layered in surprise. “She really wasn’t kidding. Hi! I’m Jaune, I’m the doctor who’s been looking after you.”

Blake finally uncovered her face, cat ears twitching up from their flattened position when she saw him. “Uh…hi. I’m Blake.”

“Cool. Cool. Uh, Blake, this is gonna sound really bad, but in order to look at your injuries I need you to, ah, take off your shirt?”

Jaune was already flinching away, as if expecting her to hit him. He was used to harsh treatment―typically from Weiss―from the female sailors on the ship when he had to take care of them, Yang knew.

But Blake just rolled her eyes. “It’s okay.” She grunted as she attempted to sit up. “It’s not my first injury, you know.”

Again, Ruby and Yang shared a look. What line of work had this woman been in before if she was hardly phased both by medical treatment and by serious wounds?

It was only when Jaune turned and gave a sheepish look to the sisters that Yang realized he meant Blake’s _shirt._ Off her _body._ In _front of them._

“Ok-ay!” she declared, and her voice definitely didn’t crack. “Ruby, I think that’s our cue to leave!”

Ruby blinked at her for a moment, but once she processed the sight of Yang’s red face and pleading eyes, she caught on. “OH! Right! Yes! We are leaving now!”

Yang did her best to avoid Blake’s gaze as she left the captain’s quarters, as much as she wanted to continue their conversation and find out more about what exactly had happened to her. It would have to wait.

Still, what was one more day? Yang was good at waiting. After all, she’d waited for years just to have a ship with her sister. She could wait a little longer for this woman.

After all, what sort of danger could there possibly be for her now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a heads up i'm not planning on having this be a buttload of chapters. i am a simple woman.
> 
> i believe it's worth adding that just like i am not a pirate, i am also not a medical professional.
> 
> not a fan of this chapter, but i think it works? again if anything seems stupid or doesn't make sense please give me a heads up paleos.
> 
> thanks for all the comments i got last time! i'm a bit of a coward so i probably won't respond directly but i really do appreciate them <3


	3. The Sail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang takes some time to show the Crescent Rose's guest around the ship.

As it turned out, Yang was given plenty of opportunity to talk to Blake over the next day―mostly because Jaune insisted that Blake try to get up and walk around to see how her stamina was doing with her injured abdomen. As the strongest one on board besides Nora (who had once thrown Ren overboard just for the kick of it and had quickly followed), Yang was nominated to be her human crutch, should that be necessary.

(“But―” Yang had tried to protest.

“Doctor’s orders, Yang,” Jaune had said, giving her one of his rare stern looks. “Blake’s healed really well, and the wound wasn’t as bad as I originally thought it was. But she needs to get up and about for the rest of her body, and her mind as well. How would you fair if you were cooped up in a pirate ship for days with nothing to do?”

And Yang had sighed, for she knew exactly how it felt to be bored out of her mind on bedrest, _and_ how important it was to get up and about from time to time. Besides, it would be a good chance to have Blake get to know the crew so she wouldn’t try to jump overboard or anything crazy like that. And with Ruby’s support behind Jaune, Yang was under both captain’s _and_ doctor’s orders.)

Blake, on the other hand, was not particularly happy about her new arrangement.

“I don’t need a _babysitter_ ,” she grumbled as she swung out of bed with little more than a small grimace (apparently, Jaune had been able to scrounge up some pain-killing herbs for her).

“Think of me less like a _babysitter_ and more like a…” Yang started, leaning against the doorway. She frowned. “A, uh…” Blake raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “Okay, yeah. Maybe I am a babysitter. But it’s mostly to make sure you don’t tumble over the side of the ship and back into the sea. I’d hate to have to fish you out again.” She punctuated the sentence with a wink that she hoped came across humorous.

“If the ship has rails, then I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Blake commented dryly, holding her side as she stood from the bed. She paused after a moment. “That means you were the one who dove in after me the first time, right?”

“I…uh, yeah. That was me.” Yang rubbed the back of her neck. “It was a hot day, and the water was cold, so why not, right?”

“Uh-huh,” Blake replied, and it was clear that she didn’t believe her. “And you just happened to skim over the sharks, right?”

Yang grimaced. “Jaune told you about that, did he?”

“Indeed he did.” Blake took a step away from the bed and toward the door. “Thank you. For deciding to cool off, I mean.”

Yang plastered on a grin. “Of course.”

But as Blake brushed past her, moving slowly so as not to agitate her wound per Jaune’s orders, Yang could see the seeds of distrust planted in her eyes. Understandable, considering that she’d figured out fairly quickly that she was on a pirate ship. Blake was thanking her for saving her life, but that didn’t mean that she trusted her. Yang would have to change that if they wanted to get into Argus without alarms instantly being raised.

Well, that…and there was something about her that made Yang want to win her over. Maybe she’d been listening to Sun and his made-up stories of the woman too much, but something about Blake sparked Yang’s curiosity.

_It has to be the eyes,_ Yang reasoned with herself as she followed Blake out of the room. _I am a pirate, after all._

And, of course, the first sight that greeted the _Crescent Rose_ ’s guest was one Sun Wukong, tangled so completely in the ropes that the only thing keeping him from falling off the mast was his blonde monkey tail.

“Oh gods,” Yang said, slamming the heel of her palm into her forehead.

“Sun!” Ruby shouted from the top deck, though there was a amused tone layered underneath her stern one. “That’s the third time this week!”

“Sorry, Ruby!” Sun said back with a sheepish grin. “I just…the ropes are so tricky up here!”

Yang heard a sigh from up above that sounded suspiciously Weiss-ish before Ruby called out, “Yang! Can you―”

“Already on it, Rubes!” Yang called back up, marching over to Sun with Blake on her heels, following curiously at her own injured pace.

“You talk so…casually to your captain,” Blake commented as they approached.

Yang shrugged. “Yeah, well, I practically raised the squirt, so I earned the right. As for everyone else…we’re all pretty close, and it’s not like Ruby’s the type to decapitate someone for failing to call her ‘captain’ and salute. We’re not the Atlas navy.”

“Thank the gods for that,” Sun called down, now hanging directly above them.

Yang rolled her eyes and extended her metal arm to smack the faunus lightly on the forehead.

“Yeah, otherwise you would have been shot after you tried to steal from the rum stash on your first week.”

“Pssh,” Sun said, jerking his head at her (his hands were still thoroughly tied up). “Puh-lease. Those Atlas pricks wouldn’t have even let me near the ship.”

He must have tried to wave his tail at her, but in the process he lost his grip on the mast and came crashing to the deck in a tangle of limbs and rope. He groaned.

“And _that’s_ karma right there, Wukong,” Yang said. She shot him a grin and strode over to his feet, where a massive knot awaited. When she kneeled down to untie it, she glanced up and noticed Blake staring―not at the idiot still wrapped in enough rope for a mummy, but at _Yang_. Specifically, at her metal arm.

Yang nearly looked away, expecting pity or disgust in those amber eyes. Instead, she found only…curiosity. It was possible that this was her first time seeing Atlas technology work up close, which somehow made Yang feel a lot better. That, or Blake was curious about the tale, which only made Yang feel marginally better. She suspected it was a bit of both, and she wasn’t quite sure how that made her feel, so instead she pretended that she never saw the look at all.

“Geez, Sun, what did you even do?” Yang muttered, trying her best to untangle the knot at his feet. It was going to take her a minute, which, for an experienced sailor like her, was really saying something.

“Uh…hi there,” Sun said, when he finally noticed Blake standing in front of him with a raised eyebrow (which Yang was beginning to learn was her signature look). “I promise, it’s not this chaotic usually.”

Yang snorted at the obvious lie, then frowned at the knot in her hands. He’d really done a number on it.

“Uh-huh,” Blake hummed, crossing her arms. “And how did you join this crew, if you’re so bad at tying knots?”

_Straight to the point,_ Yang thought. _Fair enough._

“Oh, that’s a long story. See, I was running from the authorities in Vale ‘cause I’d stolen some food, and I saw the _Crescent Rose_ in port so I hopped on board to get away from them. Ruby and these guys let me stay.” Sun paused. “Huh. Guess it’s not _that_ long of a story.”

“We _should_ have made knot-tying mandatory in your case,” Yang grumbled, finally getting the knot loose. She unraveled it with a few quick tugs. “There. Go get some lessons from Velvet.”

Sun shot to his feet, giving her a messy salute. “Yes, ma’am!”

“It’s ‘sir’ to you, you little ruffian,” Yang said, cuffing him in the arm with a smile.

He laughed and ran off to climb up the mast again, yelling Velvet’s name.

“Wow. You really weren’t kidding.”

Yang turned to look at Blake, who was _looking_ at her again. Her heart jumped in her chest without her permission.

“What?” she said, brilliantly.

Blake gave her a small smile and nodded off in Sun’s direction. “About how close you all are.”

“Oh,” Yang replied. “Well. A lot of the crew lost their family, or they can’t go back to where they’re from, so we’re their family.” She shrugged. “When you go through so much with someone, it’s hard not to get close.”

Blake hummed, seemingly thinking. Her smile had twitched down into a frown, and a hand had strayed down to the bandage over her abdomen.

“Hey,” Yang said, giving Blake her best smile. “C’mon. I wanna show you something.”

She walked her around the side of the mast, toward the edge of the ship, so that the main sail above them was fully visible. Around them, the other crew members smiled to themselves. Either Ruby or Yang had shown them the exact same thing when they first set foot on the ship.

“Behold,” Yang said, holding her hands up toward the sail dramatically. “The pride and joy of the _Crescent Rose._ ”

Said pride and joy really wasn’t much more than a bunch of stain on the main sail, but it carried a lot of weight for all of the crew members.

At first, the idea had been a memorial of sorts. Summer Rose had stained a large, stylized rose on the sail of her own (albeit smaller) ship, so Yang and Ruby had done the same with the sail of the _Crescent Rose,_ whose name was even an homage to her. Then Ruby and Yang had added their own symbols in smaller, different color stain underneath. Then Pyrrha, Jaune, Nora, and Ren had added theirs. Then, as they added each member of the crew, they earned the right to put their symbol on. If they ever lost a crew member, their symbol remained, as a memorial to what they’d done for the crew.

Summer’s symbol was a white rose on a gray sail; Ruby’s was a red one. Yang’s was a golden, burning heart. A water lilly for Ren, a javelin for Pyrrha, two arcs for Jaune, lightning on a hammer for Nora, and so on and so forth. Every member of the crew had one.

Yang watched Blake’s eyes sweep over the images stained into the sail, trying to process them all at once. Yang wondered if she knew what it meant, or had any idea as to the deepness of it all.

“We’re family here,” she repeated, crossing her arms somewhat nervously. “Not just pirates, or just a crew.”

Blake stared at the sail for a moment longer, then nodded. “I…think I understand.”

“Great!” Yang replied, feeling a sense of relief wash over her. “In that case, I think it’s time for you to meet the rest of the crew.”

**|||**

“Ah, so the quartermaster finally decides the grace the lesser crew members with her presence.”

“It’s a pleasure to see you too, Coco,” Yang said with a roll of her eyes. Behind her, Blake snorted. She seemed to be getting far too much pleasure out of the sass Yang was getting from the crew members. Like the rest of Blake’s behavior, it made Yang wonder where this woman had come from and what her life had been like before.

“Whatcha lookin’ for, first mate Xiao Long?” Coco asked, leaning against the railing of the ship with a mug of coffee in her hands.

“I was wondering if you’d seen Pyrrha anywhere,” Yang said.

“Did you check with Jaune?”

“Of course I did. He claimed he didn’t know where she was.”

“Riiight. A likely story.”

“That’s what I said,” Blake deadpanned from behind Yang. “I’ve known the crew on this ship for maybe two hours and it was obvious that he was lying.”

“Ohh, I _like_ her,” Coco said, taking a sip from her mug. “Where’ve you been keeping this lady-friend, Xiao Long?”

Fire. Fire all over Yang’s face.

“I―you―that’s―she was _injured, Adel!”_

Yang heard a giggle, and turned to find Blake laughing quietly into her hand, eyes shining. Yang quickly turned away lest Coco find something else to tease her about.

And, as fortune would have it, she turned to find Pyrhha Nikos exiting from below deck.

“PYRRHA!” Yang bellowed, searching for anything that would save her from further embarrassment.

The redhead jumped as she heard her name called, but she smiled when she saw it was Yang. With little more than a wave to Coco, Yang strode over, hearing Blake giggle once more before following her.

“Yang!” Pyrrha said, her smile only growing when she saw who was trailing behind her. “And our own mystery woman, in the flesh.”

Blake’s eyebrows climbed into her hairline. “‘Mystery woman?’”

“Hehe,” Yang said, rubbing the back of her neck. “Uh, that’s what the crew’s taking to calling you. We didn’t know your name, and…well, you can only hear the same sea shanties so many times before you start to get bored. Someone floating in the middle of the ocean is a bit of a conversation starter.”

“I…see,” Blake said, the amused tilt to her mouth giving it all away. “Well, I suppose when you can’t read a book…”

Oh, Yang liked that look in her eyes _far_ too much. She cleared her throat and turned back to Pyrrha. “Pyrrha, this is Blake. Blake, Pyrrha. She’s the trusty navigator of the _Crescent Rose._ I’ve lost track of the number of times she’s kept us from ramming into a cliff or an Atlas ship.”

Pyrrha waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, stop with the flattery, Yang, I’m just doing my job.”

“I dunno, Pyrrha, I don’t think I could do what you do.” Yang put a hand to her forehead dramatically. “Why, I think the mere thought of all that work is sending me into a tizzy!”

Pyrrha rolled her eyes and looked at Blake. “Don’t mind her. She’s always this dramatic.”

“Oh, I don’t mind at all,” Blake said with a smirk aimed in Yang’s direction. “I think it’s charming.”

And…Yang’s face was red again. _Dammit._

“Besides,” Pyrrha continued, and Yang had never been more glad to hear someone speak. “Yang does enough work around here for four of me.”

“I would have estimated about one and a half,” a voice said, and suddenly Yang wished for embarrassing silence again.

“Weiss!” she exclaimed, turning with hands on her hips and yet another smile plastered on. “Light of my life! Joy of the world! Mistress of the sea!”

Weiss _hmmph_ ed, throwing a braid of white hair over her shoulder. “That last one sounds like the name of an exotic dancer.” Yang’s grin turned crooked and Weiss’s eyes narrowed in response. “Don’t. Say. Anything.”

“I wasn’t going to,” Yang sing-songed before resting her arms behind her head. “And what brings our wonderful helmswoman down from her lofty perch?”

If it was possible, Weiss’s eyes would have narrowed even further. “You’re using larger words than usual. What’s that about?”

It was then that the “Ice Queen’s” (so dubbed by Sun behind her back) eyes landed directly on Blake. Since Yang’s back was (regrettably) turned to her, she couldn’t see the faunus’s expression. Judging from Weiss’s though, it was probably something close to confusion.

The only reason Yang was able to see Weiss’s expression soften was because she knew her so well. Weiss was, understandably, skeptical of strangers, but she had a soft spot for anyone who’d been injured on the sea. After a run-in with one spear-toting pyromaniac a few years ago that hadn’t ended particularly well for her, it was easy to understand why.

“I trust Yang hasn’t completely corrupted you by now,” Weiss said. Yang stuck her tongue out at her, but stepped out of the way to observe as Weiss stuck her hand out for Blake to shake. “I’m Weiss.”

Blake took the hand hesitantly, but shook it firmly nonetheless. “Blake.”

“So, Yang, what nonsense have you been filling this woman’s head with?” Weiss said, turning back to Yang.

She gasped, putting a hand over her chest. “Weiss, you wound me! I haven’t even told her the story of how you shattered a glass with your screech when you saw the eel Ruby and I caught!”

Blake snorted into her hand again. Weiss’s eyes could have frozen Yang solid if she wasn’t immune to it by now.

“Don’t worry, Weiss,” Pyrrha interjected with one of her award-winning smiles. “Yang’s been behaving. Mostly.”

Yang grinned, but decided to move the conversation forward lest it turn into something embarrassing for her again. “So what’re you doing down here, Weiss?”

“Ruby wanted to steer the ship for a moment, so she gave me an early lunch break.” A mischievous glint appeared in the woman’s eyes, and she spoke before Yang could stop her. “She also wanted me to make sure you weren’t flirting too heavily with our guest.”

“I was _not_ flirting!” Yang exclaimed, and it was (mostly) true. “Look at me, Weiss! I’m a saint!”

“I…hate to disagree, Yang,” Pyrrha started, still smiling warmly, “but a few weeks ago you started a bar fight over  _ literal _ spilled milk.”

“Okay, that’s different,” Yang insisted, crossing her arms. “That guy _intentionally_ spilled his drink on me because I wouldn’t humor his advances. What was I supposed to do?”

Weiss rolled her eyes in the way that Yang knew was fond. “Sure, Yang. Now if you’ll excuse me, I really must be going. Our captain also asked me to bring her back a cookie.”

As Weiss strode off, Yang shook her head in amusement. “Ah, Weiss Schnee. Where would this ship be without her sunny disposition?”

That earned her a laugh from Pyrrha. “One of these days, she’s going to challenge you to a duel.”

Yang chuckled and shook her head. “Nah. She likes my sister too much to beat me up.”

Pyrrha snorted and then shook Yang’s hand. “As much as I’d love to see how you’re going to antagonize our crew members next, I really should be going. There’s a lot of work to do.”

As they said their goodbyes, Yang could feel Blake watching carefully. She seemed to do that a lot whenever friendliness was involved. 

“How was that?” Yang asked after Pyrrha walked off to do her job, turning back to Blake, wondering if that display was a bit too much for the woman. “Entertaining enough for you?”

Blake’s eyes were still wide, and she seemed to only recognize the question after a second or two of silence. 

“It was very thrilling,” she said dryly. Then her brow furrowed, and she said, _“That’s_ Weiss Schnee? As in, heiress to Jacques Schnee’s entire fortune Weiss Schnee?”

_Yep. That’s why I was saving her for last._

“Ex-heiress, actually, but yeah,” Yang replied. When she saw Blake’s expression, her own softened. “Weiss is…more than just her name, I promise. Don’t tell her I said this, but she’s actually a big softie once you get to know her. She even helped us get this ship. It’s a…long story.”

Blake cocked her head. “I…think I’d like to hear it, someday.”

“Someday,” Yang agreed. “For now, though, let’s evaluate the various crew members. I still have to do my job, you know.” When she punctuated _that_ sentence with a wink, she understood Weiss’s concerns maybe a little better. Not that she was _trying_ to flirt. It just…slipped out? Can someone accidentally wink?

_That’s called a facial tick,_ Yang told herself, trying to focus on the task at hand.

“Right!” she said, holding up a finger on one hand. “Sun?”

“Doesn’t know how to tie ropes,” Blake said, that amused tilt back to her mouth.

“ _But_ he’s hopefully taking lessons from Velvet right now, so he’s safe.” Yang held up a second finger. “Coco?”

“A severe caffeine addiction and attitude.”

“Yeah, but she keeps Ruby supplied with cookies and she’s good with a cannon, so she gets to stay.” A third finger. “Pyrrha?”

“Literally the nicest person I have ever met in my life, and apparently very good with maps.”

“Jaune?”

“Totally has a thing for Pyrrha but doesn’t know it yet. It’s pretty obvious they’re constantly spending time with each other, even when they’re not supposed to.”

“Well…we pirates need our gossip, don’t we?”

On they went, listing off the various crew members that Yang had introduced her to and debating their strengths and weaknesses. It was fairly standard talk, all business, but there was no malice in it. Yang was the one who knew that it would be a cold day in hell before anyone kicked anyone else off the _Crescent Rose,_ and the more she talked with Blake, the more apparent she tried to make that.

Eventually, they got to the most important question.

“What did _you_ think of them?” Yang asked, suddenly serious. 

“I…just told you.”

She shook her head. “Not what you think of their _performance._ What do you think of _them?”_

The question seemed to take Blake by surprise, and it wasn’t hard for Yang to imagine why. Blake had the look of a sailor about her, and it was obvious that this wasn’t the first ship she had been on. Most other ships―even the merchant vessels―were _performance_ based rather than _people_ based. Especially on most other pirate ships, if you didn’t make the cut, you were…well, _cut._

“The crew all seem…too nice to be pirates. Mostly,” Blake eventually said, averting her gaze. “Too nice to steal from people, I mean.”

And _there_ was the crux of the issue. As much as the day had been for Blake’s medical benefit, Yang could read between the lines and knew that if their guest shared details of their ship to anyone, much less the authorities, all of their plans would be dashed.

“We only steal from the Atlas navy and other pirates,” Yang replied, keeping her gaze level so the other woman would know it was the truth. “We leave merchant and civilian vessels alone.”

“Why?” The question wasn’t accusatory, simply curious. Always curious.

She took a minute to ponder the question. Why indeed?

“We’ve all seen what it’s like to suffer,” she eventually settled for saying. She couldn’t help the glance at her arm, then up at Weiss. “Some of us…more than others. And we’ve seen pirates and the Atlas navy do nothing to help, even though both are fully capable.” Yang sighed. “Both are too selfish to help where it counts. So we do it instead.”

When she turned back to Blake, it was with as much conviction as she could muster. “We’re not heartless, Blake. Anything we steal, we give it back to the people who actually need it. General Ironwood doesn’t much like it when we steal from him or attack his ships, so he’s labeled us pirates and enemies. But it doesn’t make us like the others you’ve encountered.”

She could _see_ the blood drain from Blake’s face. “H-How did you know I’d…?”

Yang shook her head. “Sharks don’t leave wounds like that. Cutlasses do. Believe me, I know.” When the other woman opened her mouth to say something, Yang held up a hand to stop her. “I’m not asking you to give up your secrets, Blake. Whatever happened to you, it happened to _you,_ and I don’t want you to feel like you owe us anything.”

She looked up at Ruby, who piloted the ship with a determined look. “When we took this ship, one of the things we all agreed upon was that everyone on its deck would always have a choice. That includes you.”

When she saw Blake’s stunned expression, the first emotion that struck her was anger. Anger that whatever ship this woman had been on before, choice had not been an option. Anger that other pirates had damaged not only her, but the reputation of freelancer ships everywhere.

Yang gave Blake a smile and hoped she could tell how much she meant it. “I showed you around today so you could get to know us a little. Hopefully you don’t feel like you’re stuck with a bunch of cutthroat mercenaries now.”

There was gratefulness in Blake’s eyes, but her next words were sarcastic. “Oh, I don’t know, Yang. That sister of yours looks _incredibly_ vicious.”

Yang laughed loudly. “Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet. Just wait until someone gets between her and sugar― _that’s_ the real show right there.”

That earned her a small chuckle, and she immediately decided that she wanted to hear it more often. She added it to her list of challenges to tackle onboard the ship.

Suddenly, there was a hand on her upper arm. Yang looked down at it, then up at Blake, feeling warmth blossom where her hand made contact.

“Thank you, Yang,” Blake said, eyes bright. “I…appreciate it. Really.”

Yang swallowed the piece of her heart that had jumped into her throat. “You’re welcome.”

She decided to count that as a success.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for landlubbers like me i feel like i should mention that the first mate and quartermaster are the same thing and they had a whole bunch of responsibilities on the ship.
> 
> not sure when the next update is my family is moving and im trying to write and also i have to study for my driver's test on monday
> 
> thanks for all the kind words <3


	4. The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's no reward without risk.

_After Yang and Ruby re-embraced the sea, it wasn’t a question of whether either of them would sail for a living. It was a matter of_ when they would start _. It was easy to find a ship to take them to Vale, and even easier to find a captain who was willing to apprentice them. Ozpin, they called him, and he was the strangest man they’d ever met. He was the captain of the_ Long Memory _, and he was rather eccentric. Still, he was willing to take two relatively inexperienced teenagers under his wing and show them the ropes._

_They were both natural sailors, which was a surprise to no one, least of all Ozpin. The man had a habit of teaching them unusual skills in unusual ways, yet each time the siblings came out on top._

_The only skill he would not teach them was that of combat. It bothered neither of them, since their uncle Qrow had already taken it upon them to make sure they could defend themselves. Yang could handle herself in a bar fight, but was no good with a cutlass. Ruby, on the other hand, could never seem to find a weapon that matched her personality until she stumbled across a cutlass that was completely disproportionate to her body size yet perfect for her fighting style. It was Yang who encouraged her to purchase it, even tossing in a few of her own measly wages, and Ozpin said nothing when Ruby arrived on the ship the next day with the sword on her hip._

_Yang never really thought she had much need for a sword. It wasn’t like she was going to start swashbuckling anytime soon, so she neglected the (almost unlearnable) skill and focused on everything else Ozpin had to teach them, preferring her fists over a sharp lump of metal._

_She soon learned that was a mistake._

**|||**

As always, Yang had a headache when the _Crescent Rose_ pulled into port. Part of it was the snow in the distance shining so bright a white that it felt like her eyeballs were being personally assaulted. But mostly it was the sudden cacophony of sound that the crew was producing.

As Yang rubbed her temples, standing next to Weiss as she steered the ship into port, she caught sight of Ruby―fully decked out in her red coat with an unreasonably large hood attached to the back―conversing with Blake.

The faunus seemed to be nervous about something, holding her elbow with her other hand, nodding along to whatever it was that Ruby was saying. Ruby’s back was turned to the top deck, so Yang couldn’t tell what she was saying, but she was obviously saying something emphatically. Whatever it was, it seemed important, and Yang forced herself to look away from what was obviously a private conversation, given the pair’s distance from the rest of the crew.

Instead, Yang focused on Nora, who was standing at the base of the steps leading up to the top deck rambling off something at high speed to Ren, who was somehow following along flawlessly. Either that, or he was just nodding along. Perhaps a mixture of both.

“Nora!” Yang said, hopping down the steps and landing at the bottom with a grin. “I’m going to need to borrow your voice soon.”

“You got it, Miss Quartermaster Ma’am!” Nora said. Even when she was speaking at a normal volume for her, Yang still felt the sound of her voice reverberate in her eardrums. 

Yang shared a look with Ren, who put a calming hand on his fiancee’s shoulders. Nora stopped vibrating immediately and leaned into his side. When they’d first gotten together, their relationship had been the talk of the _Crescent Rose._ No one had quite gotten how it worked―with Ren’s serenity compared to Nora’s chaos―but they all agreed that it _did._

When Yang looked over at Ruby next, she found that her sister was already sending finger guns her way, and Blake was watching the exchange with an amused eye. Ducking her head so that she wouldn’t be caught embarrassed again, Yang turned to Nora and nodded.

“Let ‘em have it,” she said, then covered her ears.

“ALL RIGHT, MAGGOTS!” Nora bellowed, and the sound of her voice cut through the din of the ship and probably carried about three miles inland. “LISTEN TO OUR CAPTAIN AS SHE INSTRUCTS YOU WHAT TO DO! ANYONE WHO DOESN’T LISTEN WILL BE FORCED TO WALK THE PLANK!”

“We’re not making anyone walk the plank, Nora,” Ren added in an undertone.

“ANYONE WHO DOESN’T LISTEN WILL BE _POLITELY ASKED_ TO WALK THE PLANK.”

Nora punctuated the statement with a savage grin, but everyone on board had heard the spiel a hundred times before.

Ruby stepped onto the stairs with a smile. She had to go up a few more steps to be the same height as Yang, and then a few more so that everyone could see her.

“Friends,” Ruby started, gesturing toward the crew. “Sister.” She nodded at Yang. “Weiss.” A finger pointed up at the wheel of the ship.

“Hey!” Weiss’s offended voice came down.

“You all know the drill!” Ruby continued. Her high-pitched voice did a good job of carrying across the ship, even without Nora’s volume. “You can stay the night at whatever inn you choose and spend whatever portion of your pay you want tonight, but everyone has to be back at the _Crescent Rose_ by dawn. And no telling anyone about about what we do this time, _Jaune._ ”

In the middle of the crowd, Jaune’s face sank into his shirt, red blooming across his cheeks.

“There are a lot of Atlas navy members here!” Ruby added. “So be careful! And stay safe!”

Then, with a nod, she was done, and her descent back to the deck declared so. She nodded at Yang, who clapped her little sister on the shoulder.

“Get us to port, Weiss.”

**|||**

Yang was usually one of the last off the ship, once she made sure that Ren and Nora would be okay watching the ship alongside Pyrrha and Jaune (the four of them typically volunteered to watch over the ship for the rest of the crew). Yang’s job was, essentially, to be the big sister of the ship. She made sure everyone was doing what they were supposed to do and that they were taken care of, and she also made sure everything was as fair as possible. Pyrrha hadn’t been lying when she’d said that Yang’s job entailed a lot of work.

Which is why Yang was so distracted when she stepped off the ship―running through a list of everything she needed to do while in port in addition to the plans that she and Ruby had made―that she didn’t notice Blake until she bumped right into her.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, and instinctively reached out to stabilize the still-injured woman. “Sorry! I didn’t see you there!”

“It’s all right,” Blake said, smirking. “You seem…distracted.”

The use of present tense was all it took for Yang to realize that her hands were still on Blake’s shoulders. She hopped away as if she had been burned, landing clumsily on the ramp that led down to the docks.

“S-sorry!” Yang stammered out again. This whole _blushing_ thing really hadn’t been a problem until Blake was aboard the _Crescent Rose_.

Thankfully, Ruby _whoosh_ ed by just in time to cover it up (Yang hoped). 

“Hey Yang!” she said, hands on her hips as she stood at the bottom of the ramp. “You ready for today?”

Happy for the distraction, Yang bounded down the ramp to ruffle her sister’s hair. “You betcha! I get tired of all the thieving and pillaging sometimes!”

“Hehe. She’s kidding,” Ruby told Blake, who was descending the ramp with a raised eyebrow.

All in all, Blake’s injuries didn’t seem to be bothering her as much now. But that was how things typically tended to go with Jaune’s patients; he was an excellent doctor, with patients that recovered remarkably fast. Maybe it was the medicine he brewed up that did it―he always kept its ingredients secret. Not even Pyrrha knew what it was.

(Weiss had asked her about it one day, miffed about not knowing something. Pyrrha had assured them all that she didn’t know what exactly Jaune put in it, but that it wasn’t harmful. Yang thought that last part was rather obvious, but Weiss had always been the suspicious type.)

Still, the clothes that the crew members had lent Blake were loose and wrinkled, but they covered her bandages well―that would be a good thing if they wanted to avoid attention. As for the little bit of collarbone that Yang could see peeking out of the top of Blake’s shirt…

Yang cleared her throat and looked back at her sister. “Where’s Weiss? She leave for the tavern already?”

“She said she had some errands to run,” Ruby said, scrunching up her face as she tried to remember. “Something about…sword maintenance? Her rapier got dinged in the last attack.” Her face twisted into a pout. “She wouldn’t let me come with her.”

Yang chuckled. “Probably because you know too much about swords, Rubes. Give her a chance to get her own experience.”

Ruby brightened considerably. “Yeah, you’re right!” She nodded to herself. “Besides, I’ve got some errands to do, too.”

Yang felt her brow furrow for a moment. “Since when? You and I usually head into town together.”

Ruby put her hands on her hips again. “I don’t need your chaperoning, elder sister! I am an adult and I drink the appropriate amount of milk to prove it!”

A giggle from up above reminded them both that they weren’t alone. Blake descended the ramp with hands in her borrowed pockets.

“I actually had something that I needed Ruby to help me with,” she said in that smooth voice of hers. “I’ve never been to Argus before, and she seems like a capable guide.”

“Yeah! I’ve been here loads of times!” Ruby said, as if Yang hadn’t been by her side every time they’d been there. 

Yang instantly assumed that this had something to do with the conversation she’d witnessed earlier, but didn’t pry. After all, Blake was really little more than an acquaintance, and she was entitled to her secrets and her business, just like Yang had told her the day before.

“So…I guess I’ll see you around, then,” Yang said, shoving her own hands in her pockets rather awkwardly. “I’ve got some crew business of my own to handle here in Argus.”

There was that _look_ in Blake’s eyes again, like she knew something Yang didn’t (the smirk that she gave as well _definitely_ wasn’t attractive). “Oh, I have a feeling you’ll be seeing me again, Yang.”

Before Yang could even begin to ask what that meant, Ruby, as impatient as ever, grabbed Blake’s arm and tugged her along, apparently forgetting the woman’s injuries.

“Let’s go!” she said, smile so bright it should have been illegal. “We’ve got a lot to do!”

Blake threw a wide-eyed look over her shoulder as Ruby dragged her off, and Yang gave her a thumbs up and a smile.

And that was the last Yang thought she’d ever see of Blake.

**|||**

Another part of Yang’s job? Making sure the goods they were smuggling into the city didn’t get discovered by the authorities. And if that meant taking shady routes and beating up thugs that tried to steal their stolen goods, then hey, it wasn’t like anybody would be missing those guys for a few hours.

Yang Xiao Long happened to excel at beating up thugs. Their weapons―if they even had any―were falling apart or rusty at best, which made the thugs themselves easy pickings for someone like her. Especially when someone like her had someone like Weiss Schnee to back them up.

Weiss rammed the butt of her newly-repaired rapier into the forehead of some ruffian, huffing when he passed out too close to her and she had to jump over his incapacitated body.

“You’d think―” she ducked a sloppy punch and elbowed the offender in the stomach. “―that these people would learn after all the times we’ve been here and done the exact same thing.”

“Aw, what’s the matter, Weiss?” Yang said, easily sidestepping a hastily-thrown kick and punching the man in the face with her prosthetic hand. “Getting tired?”

“Please,” Weiss replied, tossing her head indignantly. “As if simpletons like these could tire _me_ out.”

“Hey!” one of the thugs started the protest before getting slugged in the gut with Yang’s combat gauntlet.

It took them very little effort to dispatch the men who had tried―and failed **―** to ambush them as they took a cart loaded with goods to a rendezvous point. Argus was a beautiful place, but it also had plenty of woods and forest for the less reputable members of society to dwell in. One of these said forests was precisely why they had come to the city in the first place, but the way there was exposed and easily attacked. This was actually the second time they’d been forced to stop by bandits.

Yang scoffed. Amateurs.

She swung back up onto the cart and tucked her hands behind her head as Weiss climbed into the driver’s seat. She’d arrived at the rendezvous point before the rendezvous point with a repaired blade and her compassionate attitude (if you looked really, _really_ deeply). Now all they needed was Ruby, and they’d be all set.

“Where did you say our captain was again?” Weiss said as she flicked the reins and the horses at the head of the cart started moving again.

“Helping Blake with somethin’,” Yang replied, digging an apple out of her pack and chomping into it. “Probably helping her get a job or something like that. You know that Ruby somehow knows everyone.”

Weiss snorted. “Her and that endless optimism.”

Yang beamed at what was supposed to be an insult. Ruby had, despite everything, maintained that optimism. It was one of the things Yang was proudest of her sister for.

Speaking of her sister…

“Stop the cart,” Yang said, taking another bite out of her apple. “I think she’s here.”

Weiss shook her head with a small laugh and tugged on the reins. “I will never understand how fast she is.”

“Heh. Try growing up racing her.”

As the cart came to a stop, Ruby’s quick footsteps became even more apparent. If Ruby hadn’t grown up sailing, she might have had a future as a landlocked messenger, for she almost never stopped running. It was yet another advantage she had while fighting; in addition to being small and easily underestimated, she was incredibly fast.

“Hey, Yang!” Ruby said, popping up from the side of the cart. She had a bit of dust from the road sticking to her face, but other than that, she was fine. “Ice Queen.”

“Hey!”

Yang scooted over on the bench and gave her sister a hand up so she could sit next to her on the cart. “There’s our fearless leader. How was errand-running?”

“Fun!” Ruby exclaimed. “We got Blake a sword!”

“What?” Yang asked, blinking in confusion.

Weiss sighed. “Let’s just get to the rendezvous point before Robyn decides we’ve taken too long and leaves.”

Yang leaned back in her seat. “C’mon, Weiss. She needs us just as much as we need her.”

“She _needs_ us to do our jobs, Yang.”

“Geez, Yang,” Ruby said, crossing her arms and putting her nose in the air in an impersonation of Weiss. “ _So_ unprofessional.”

“We’re _pirates!”_

“Yes, yes, shout it out for all of Wershood Forest to hear,” Weiss said with a roll of her eyes.

Yang scoffed and took another bite out of her apple. “I still think that’s a stupid name.”

**|||**

Robyn’s hideout was _much_ less homey than a ship, Yang decided. Though, she supposed, it did have its charm. There were outhouses, after all.

Robyn and her band of outlaws had many hideouts on many islands and continents, and Yang had seen―or at least been near―many of them. Robyn was the _Crescent Rose’_ s main deliverer of stolen goods, for they couldn’t exactly sell them in an open market or hand them out freely without serious questions being raised. This way was better; Robyn and her gang knew where people needed aid most, and Ruby and her crew provided the means to help them, and no law enforcement officers were involved. Everyone involved benefited, but mostly those who truly needed it.

“Heya, pipsqueak,” Robyn said as they climbed out of the cart. She nodded in Yang and Weiss’s direction. “Fisticuffs. Ice Queen.”

Weiss sighed. “Hello, Robyn.”

Like most of her outlaws, Robyn wore a light green cloak that hid most of her body except for her face and the crossbow she had mounted on her wrist. The rest of her group were dressed and armed similarly behind her.

Likewise, their hideout in the forest was constructed so as to avoid attention. To the outside onlooker, it probably looked like a shack in the middle of the woods―something that a defenseless old lady would live in. But Yang knew it likely had about a dozen secret passages that connected to caves all over the place. Perfect for smuggling.

“Robyn!” Ruby exclaimed, hopping out of the cart with a smile. “We’ve got stuff for you!”

“I can see that,” Robyn added, resting a hand on her hip. The woman had a habit of being brusque but compassionate. “We’ll make sure they get to the right place.”

“You got any leads for us, Robyn?” Yang asked, hefting up a box of supplies with one hand and setting it at the rebel’s feet.

“A few,” the older woman replied. “Though there’s one in particular I think you’re all going to want to know about. Come inside.”

Business usually went like this: quick and efficient. The less time they spent together, the sooner the stolen goods got sent out. Yang didn’t really mind; it left plenty of time for her to finish running errands and visit a local tavern afterwards.

Once they were all seated, May―another one of Robyn’s supporters―set out what looked to be blueprints on the table the rest of them sat at.

“Is that…?” Weiss started to ask.

“A fortified Atlas naval fort?” Robyn said, leaning on a wall on the other side of the room. “Yep. And you’re going to help us take it.”

Yang blinked at her. “You’re kidding. _Nobody_ has ever taken a fort from Atlas. Not even―” She paused. Swallowed the lump in her throat. “Not even Adam Taurus and his pirates.”

Under the table, Ruby patted Yang’s leg. But other than that, the captain was silent, staring resolutely at the map of the naval fort on the table.

“Oh, no,” Weiss said, glaring at her. “I know that face.”

Yang knew that face too. It was the face Ruby made right before she hatched one of her daring―if somewhat half-cocked―plans.

“What exactly do you want us to do?” Ruby said eventually. 

Robyn smiled.

“In one month’s time, Fort Goliath will be vulnerable,” she said, pushing herself off the wall and striding over to the table. “They have a fleet gathered around the fort at almost all times, but next month―” Robyn rammed a finger into the table, right over the fort’s image on the map. “―the ships will be away from the fort for one whole day for upgrades. It seems _someone_ has been causing the Atlas navy enough trouble that they decided to upgrade their equipment.”

Under normal circumstances, Yang might have grinned at that. Now, though, she frowned.

“Even without a fleet in front of the fort, that thing’s still going to be a tough nut to crack,” she said, pointing at the map in front of her. “They’ve got _mortar_ , cannons, probably a few mines hidden along the shore―”

“Which is exactly why we’re going to need your help.” That was May. She’d been standing in the corner of the room since setting out the map. “We’ve got a ship or two of our own, and if we need more, we can hire them. Plenty of people have problems with Ironwood.”

“What’s in this fort that’s so important?” Weiss asked, crossing her legs in a manner that Yang could tell was irritated. “We dislike Ironwood as much as you, but if you think we’re going to risk our crew for―”

“Ironwood uses these forts as a staging area for Atlas supplies,” Robyn said, a smug look on her face. “With all the trouble he’s been getting from pirates, he gathers hundreds of supplies there before shipping them out to his Atlas elites.”

“But if the ships are leaving, doesn’t he know that will leave the fort vulnerable?” Ruby asked. It was the first thing she’d said since Robyn and her friends had started explaining things.

“No one else knows about the weakness,” Robyn replied. “Or so he thinks. He’s tried to keep it as hush hush as he could.”

“Then how did _you_ find out about it?” Yang asked, crossing her arms.

“I’ve got my ways, fisticuffs.”

Beside her, Yang heard Weiss mutter “Winter,” under her breath. Yang knew better than to question it.

“We’ll have to take the fort by foot once we disable its defenses,” Ruby said, squinting at the table like she did when she was thinking. “That’s a lot of manpower and a lot of people that could die.”

“But think of the people we could help with everything that they’re hoarding in there,” Robyn insisted.

Yang frowned at the map. If they attacked the fort, it would paint an even larger target on their backs, even if they didn’t take it. But the supplies inside were things that the poorer citizens of Remnant desperately needed…

“It’s up to you, Ruby,” she decided to say. “But if you want my opinion, I think the benefits outweigh the risks.”

“I’m not so sure,” Weiss disagreed. “But with winter coming, the people of Mantle could definitely use the extra supplies. That’s not even considering the people beyond Atlas who need it as well.”

Ruby remained silent for a moment, stroking her chin in thought despite the fact that she had no beard to caress. It was a habit she had learned from their uncle Qrow.

“Okay,” she finally said. “Tell us the rest of your plan, Robyn.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> plot? i kinda know her?
> 
> not much bumbleby in this chapter but that'll change in upcoming chapters, promise.


	5. Spilled Milk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This time, Yang didn't start the fight. No, really!

After a meeting that lasted far longer than originally promised but shorter than expected considering what they were planning, Yang needed a drink.  _ Badly. _

After promising to meet Ruby in an inn room that they’d share, Yang had taken a seat at the bar and ordered a glass of rum. Judging from the looks she’d received upon entering the crowded tavern area of the inn, Yang estimated she had about ten minutes tops before she was approached.

By the time it took her to get her glass, there was already a man approaching her. Yang sighed and checked her pocket watch. It had barely been five minutes. They were getting bolder. Or dumber.

The man sat next to her, and she could practically  _ feel _ him leering at her. 

“I’ll have whatever she’s having,” the brute said, jerking a thumb in her direction. His voice was gravelly, and Yang immediately hated him.

“So,” the man said after the bartender gave him his glass with an apologetic look sent Yang’s way. “You here alone, pretty lady?”

Yang sighed.

“Sorry, pal, I’m not into that sort of thing,” she said, not even glancing at the man as she took a small sip from her glass.

“Aw, come on,” the man said, reaching for her hand. “You haven’t given me a chance!”

Yang latched onto his wrist,  _ hard _ , before he could touch her. 

“Maybe I wasn’t clear,” she said, feeling her hackles rise even further when she saw his ugly face. He looked like he hadn’t washed his hair in weeks, and he  _ smelled _ even worse than he looked. “By ‘that sort of thing,’ I meant  _ men _ . And even if I  _ were, _ you  _ certainly  _ would not make my list.”

Yang threw her drink back, feeling the alcohol burn down her throat. She cleared her throat and stood, giving the man in front of her a contemptuous look. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I will be taking a bottle of rum from  _ this  _ bartender and going back to  _ my  _ room where I will be spending the night by  _ myself. _ Goodbye.”

“ _ HEY!” _ the man shouted as Yang placed a few gold coins on the counter so the bartender would give her a bottle. The man grabbed Yang’s wrist―

―and was immediately shoved face-first into the counter as Yang broke his grip on her and bent his arm behind his back.

“I will say this one more time, and I’ll say it politely,” Yang growled into the man’s ear. “Leave. Me. Alone.  _ Please. _ I will  _ not _ ask again.”

The man was silent. Yang applied just a  _ little  _ more pressure in a place his arm definitely did  _ not _ bend, then she let him go, adjusting her crumpled shirt.

The man spat on the counter and jumped up, suddenly holding a knife.  _ Where did that come from? _

“Bitch,” he spat, thrusting the blade at her.

Yang sidestepped the knife and punched the man in the elbow hard enough for him to loose feeling and drop the weapon, then kicked his legs out from under him and shoved him into an empty table as he fell.

“Idiot,” Yang said as the table splintered under the man’s body. He groaned in response and didn’t get up again.

She counted to three―sending a hasty apology to the bartender in advance―before five men in the corner stood, looking outraged that their friend who’d made unwanted advances and had pulled a knife on a woman had been knocked out (oh! the horror!).

Yang sighed. She’d have to start stockpiling her own rum if this kept happening.

The first one to reach her tried to throw out a sloppy kick, but Yang kicked that leg in the shin and blocked the punch he’d been directing toward her head. It was a simple affair to twist her body, lash out with her foot, and kick his legs out from under him. She gave him a wink as she accelerated his fall to the floor with a swift punch to the gut. He joined his buddy who’d passed out on the floor.

Then the rest were on her, swinging their fists around like mad men who’d already gotten themselves drunk.

Piece of cake.

Yang accepted a blow to her side that really felt more like a love tap and grabbed the wrist of the one who’d thrown the punch as he prepared to hit her again. She yanked him forward right as one of his friends tried to hit her, and nearly laughed as the goon ended up punching his own friend in the face. She only added to his defeat by twisting him around by the arm and kicking him in the back, sending him flying into another one of his pals. Neither one of them got up again, groaning in defeat.

_ Shink! _

Yang turned to find that one of the drunks had tried to stab her in the arm with a pitiful looking switchblade. Unfortunately for him, he had chosen the wrong arm to try to stab. He realized it a moment later when she elbowed him in the face with that arm, cracking his nose like a piece of uncooked spaghetti.

_ THUD. _

“Ah!”

Yang twisted, hands up in a defensive position, ready to fight the thug she expected to be behind her. Instead, she found an unconscious thug holding a rusty sword, lying at the feet of a beautiful woman.

Yang felt her jaw hit the floor.  _ “Blake?” _

Sure enough, Blake stood before her, dressed in clothes that  _ definitely _ fit her. It wasn’t anything fancy―just a brown leather vest over a long-sleeved linen shirt―but the sight of her standing there with confidence written all over her face and the butt of a cutlass in her hand made Yang’s mouth run dry.

“Told you you’d be seeing me again,” Blake said with a smirk.

“Uh,” Yang replied, before she was promptly punched in the face.

It was a surprisingly solid punch, considering it came from a drunk whose nose she’d just broken. It even forced her to take a step back, hand instinctively flying to her cheek. Then she growled out a curse and turned to the offender.

He must have seen something in her eyes―something inherently dangerous―for he soon dropped the fists he had raised and backed away, stumbling over the groaning bodies of his fallen comrades until he was close enough to the door to run away.

Yang sighed, looking over at Blake, who was nudging the man she’d knocked out with a toe. He must have snuck up on Yang when she wasn’t looking.

“I could have taken him,” she told her.

**|||**

“Wait, so  _ what  _ happened?”

“Ow! Watch it, Ruby!”

“Sorry!”

Yang sighed as her sister inspected the bruise on her cheek. She was sitting on one of the beds in the room they’d rented for the night. When her sister sat back, Yang pressed the bottle of rum the bartender had given her free of charge to her face. It wasn’t exactly cold, but it was somewhat cool, and it was better than nothing.

“I told you already,” Yang said, wincing just slightly. “Some jerk was hitting on me, I said no, and he didn’t respect that as an answer.”

“She did give him plenty of chances to walk away before he pulled a knife on her,” Blake added, leaning against the wall facing the two sisters.

This time, Yang’s wince had nothing to do with her bruise. “You…uh, you saw that?”

There was that smirk again. “It was kind of hard not to, with the whole bar watching you.”

Yang groaned and put a free hand over her face. “I hate it when that happens.”  _ Wait, does that mean  _ Blake _ was watching me? _

Beside her, Ruby sighed. “I’ll make sure to lock the door tonight.”

“Does this sort of thing…happen often?” Blake asked, cocking her head at the pair.

Ruby scoffed. “Try every time we rent a room.” She put a hand to her forehead dramatically. “The challenges of having a heartthrob sister.”

Yang slapped her on the arm. “I am  _ not  _ a heartthrob! It’s not  _ my  _ fault that half the men who show up to these inns are pigs!”

Blake chuckled. “I would have guessed about three quarters.”

“Four fifths?”

“Four fifths.”

“Ugh,” Ruby said, putting her head in her hands. “Remind me to never ever drink. Ever.”

“Ruby, you’ve never had alcohol a day in your life,” Yang said, lowering the bottle of rum from her face just to take a small swig. That was better. “But yeah. Stay out of bars. I don’t think those stupid guys could handle the thought of a shorty like you kicking the crap out of them.”

Ruby smiled smugly, then frowned. “Hey, I’m not short!”

“You’re shorter than us,” Blake commented, a small smile on her lips.

“Hey!” Ruby jumped out of the bed, pointing an accusatory finger at the faunus that everyone knew held no actual malice. “I am your captain! I demand respect!” The statement would have held more weight if she hadn’t immediately tripped over thin air.

Yang scratched the back of her head, her sister’s words echoing around the room. “What do you mean, you’re her captain? Blake’s not one of our sailors.”

Ruby and Blake shared a look.

“What, Ruby didn’t tell you?” Blake said, smiling a genuine smile. “I needed a job to get back on my feet. The  _ Crescent Rose _ had an opening.”

Yang blinked.

“Huh,” was all she could think to say.

Looked like she really would be seeing more of Blake after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we love writing wlws beating the shit out of stupid men
> 
> we are rapidly approaching the end of the chapters i already have written, so you'll have to bear with me if updates come a little slower after this.
> 
> but oh my gosh, thanks so much for almost 700 views! it means a lot to me :)


	6. Board 'Em and Hold 'Em

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake's first day..doesn't quite go to plan.

Yang was still nursing the bruise on her jaw when she boarded the _Crescent Rose_ the next morning, much to Nora’s fascination.

“What’s that?” she exclaimed with a gasp, poking Yang in the face and eliciting a grimace. “Yang? Did you get in a fight _without_ me?”

“Yes, Nora,” Yang groaned. She was also nursing a slight hangover. “Could you maybe talk a little quieter, please?”

Nora either didn’t hear her or chose to ignore her. “I thought we were bar brawl buddies!” she declared dramatically, crossing her arms with a pout. “Who else is going to break tables on some guy’s head with you?”

“Apparently,” Ruby said, a mischievous glint in her eye as she stepped onto the ship beside Yang, “Blake.”

Yang sighed and made her way to the top deck. She’d have to bribe Coco to get some extra coffee later.

“The _mystery girl?”_ Nora exclaimed, eyes wide. “Yang, you _dog.”_

“It wasn’t like that, Nora,” Yang said wearily. “She was just watching my back.”

“Mmhmm, _surrrrreeee_ ,” Nora replied with a wink, dragging out the word. Yang didn’t have the energy to correct her further. Once the ship got moving, she’d wake up, but as of that moment she really couldn’t care less what the energetic sailor thought.

When she reached the top deck, Weiss was already there, sipping from a mug of coffee daintily and inspecting the wheel for damage.

(One time, Nora and Jaune had watched the ship on their own, and the wheel had claw marks on it the next day. Jaune insisted he had no idea how it got there, but whenever Nora was questioned about it, she only cackled. After that little incident, it was decided that Ren and Pyrrha would supervise them as they watched the ship and that no alcohol or coffee was allowed to be involved.)

“Hey, Weiss,” Yang said, rubbing her face. “You wouldn’t have happened to made any extra coffee, did you?”

“On the bench.”

“You’re a goddess.”

“Get away from me.”

“Ruby! Weiss is bullying me!”

“Weiss, stop bullying Yang!”

_“I wasn’t even doing anything!”_

Yang laughed her first real laugh of the day as she grabbed the mug of coffee off the bench near the helm. “Seriously, though, thanks. I probably would have walked right off the side of the ship without this.”

Weiss huffed, but it was a testament to her growth on board the ship that she didn’t give Yang the silent treatment. Instead, she said, “Long night?”

Yang groaned and took a long drag from her mug of coffee. “Sort of. I accidentally didn’t drink enough rum and then I…couldn’t sleep.”

Weiss looked over at her, then back at the wheel. “Dreams again?”

“Yeah. It’s that time of year, I guess.”

Silence for a moment, which Yang appreciated. Weiss was an unlikely confidant, but an effective one. She never asked for more information than Yang was willing to give. As much as she loved her sister, Ruby could be hyperactive and…well, Yang didn’t like the idea of looking weak in front of her.

Weiss straightened and took a sip of her coffee. “There are sleeping pills in my pack if you ever need them.”

“Thanks, Weiss.”

“But Yang? You can’t keep running from your dreams forever.”

Yang sighed, rubbing the headache that had taken up residence between her eyebrows. “I know. But right now, it’s all I can do.”

Weiss sent her a small smile and patted her on the back as she passed. “Well, you’ve got plenty of time. After all, we’ve got a month until we head toward the naval fort. I’m sure nothing _terribly_ important will happen between now and then.”

Yang leaned back and groaned up at the sky. “I wish you wouldn’t say things like that. You’ll jinx us all.”

“Yang, there’s no such thing as jinxing.”

“Fine, then it’s irony!”

“That’s something from _books_ , Yang. Literature. I wasn’t even aware that you could read.”

“I can _read!”_

“Weiss! What did I say about bullying my sister?”

“Ha! Take that, Weiss!”

“Yang, I will pour this coffee on you and it will burn.”

“Fire can’t harm a dragon, fool.”

_Splash!_

“OW!”

**|||**

By the time Yang was appropriately caffeinated and cooled off from Weiss’s assault, most of the crew was back on board and carrying out their duties for the morning. Yang herself was in the middle of hauling a rope down from the mast, coat lying on the deck and sleeves rolled up as far as they would go. It was turning out to be another hot day, and it wasn’t even noon yet. Someone had dropped the ball on tying this particular rope, and before she could find out who it was, she had to take care of it.

“Need some help?”

Yang turned, leaning back so far as she tugged on the rope that she was halfway to the deck, and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw who was standing there.

“Uh…” she started, making a fool out of herself for the second time in front of Blake.

Things only got worse when she noticed the woman’s golden eyes straying to the rather-obvious muscles in Yang’s arms. The sight was so unexpected that the rope slipped out of her grasp and sent her crashing to the floor.

 _Dammit,_ she thought in a daze. _That’s three times now._

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Blake said, appearing over Yang with another one of her trademark smirks. She held out a hand, and Yang took it with a grumbled curse. Her morning was just off to a great start, now wasn’t it?

“Thank you, Miss Blake,” Yang said, straightening and dusting her shirt off, trying to maintain some sense of dignity despite the snickering she could hear from the other members of the crew. “I had that perfectly under control.”

Blake’s amusement was all but palpable, easily readable through the curve of her raised eyebrow. “Of course. My mistake.”

Yang _really_ wished that her face would stop heating up like this, especially in public. She rolled her sleeves back up and grabbed the rope again, more determined than ever to look like she actually had a clue as to what she was doing. With Blake watching her, it was easier than ever to pull the rope back and tie it down. With that done, she slapped her hands together and turned to look at the _Crescent Rose_ ’s newest recruit.

She was certainly dressed the part. With a cutlass strapped to one thigh and a pistol on the other, she seemed ready to defend herself―and with the way she’d defended Yang the night before, Yang had no doubt that she could. It didn’t hurt that her outfit suited her well, either…

Yang cleared her throat and was suddenly very grateful that her job could disguise her admiration as professional judgement. “Can you tie knots, Miss Blake?”

Blake put her hands on her hips. “Of course I can.”

“Good. Maybe you can teach Mr. Wukong a thing or two. Velvet had trouble with him yesterday.” Yang grinned at her. “Maybe someone can finally beat some sense into him.”

Blake smirked again, and Yang absolutely did not find an _ounce_ of attractiveness in the gesture. That would be absurd. “Sure thing, Miss Xiao Long.”

“Hey,” Yang said with a wink. “That’s Quartermaster Xiao Long to you, sailor.”

“Of course,” Blake replied, saluting sloppily. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”

Yang grinned and watched her saunter off to another part of the ship.

“Oh, I am in so much trouble,” she muttered to herself.

**|||**

“Yang,” Ruby said, sounding thoughtful as she stared at some point behind the ship. “Do you think we’ve got a fan?”

“Huh?” Yang replied, then leaned over the side of the ship to look behind them. At first, she didn’t see anything. Then, as she squinted into the fog of the morning, she thought she could see a flash of something in the distance. 

Something that looked remarkably like the pristine white sail of an Atlas ship.

“Shit,” Yang muttered. “That was quick.”

They’d left the port of Argus a few hours ago, and once they were out of sight of the navy, they’d changed their flag back and uncovered their sail. Typically, it took the Atlas sailors they passed a little longer to figure out who they were. They must have been getting smarter.

Yang jumped away from the railing and waved her arms at the top deck frantically. “Ruby! We’ve _definitely_ got visitors!”

“Aw, darn,” she heard. Even as a pirate captain, Ruby couldn’t find it in herself to curse (not that Yang wanted her to, of course).

Ruby stepped up to the railing of the top deck that overlooked the rest of the ship. “Listen up!” she shouted, hands on her hips. The attention of the entire crew turned to her, even as they continued doing their jobs.

“We’ve got an Atlas ship tailing us!” Ruby continued. “You all know what to do.”

And, like it had so many other times before, that sent the crew scrambling. Still up on the top deck, Ruby looked down at Yang and gave her a nod.

Yang sprung into action, hopping on top of a box someone had left out and bellowing, “Battle stations! Weiss will never let us live it down if we lose to some Atlas pricks!”

“Hey!”

“Yang! I need you!” Ruby called.

Yang was up on the top deck in a flash. Ruby stood behind Weiss, a spyglass in her hands, squinting at the ship in the distance. As the sun rose, the fog started to burn off, which meant the ship behind them was growing more and more visible.

“That’s not just any Atlas ship tailing us,” Ruby said, lowering the spyglass and handing it over to Yang.

Yang held the spyglass up to her eye and directed it toward the Atlas ship.

It was…a very big ship. Certainly bigger than the _Crescent Rose._ Yang muttered a curse as she caught sight of the name written on the side. _Kingfisher._

“That’s a man-of-war,” Yang said, lowering the spyglass. “They sent a _man-of-war_ after us?!”

“Wow,” Weiss whistled. “Ironwood must really have it out for us. They only have a handful of man-of-war ships in the Atlas navy.”

“What are our chances, Weiss?” Ruby asked, rubbing her forehead. “The _Crescent Rose_ versus the _Kingfisher?_ ”

“The _KINGFISHER?!”_ Weiss screeched. The ship jerked as she clenched the wheel. “We’re being tailed by the _Kingfisher?!”_

Yang and Ruby shared a look. In front of them, the crew scrambled to get ready.

“Is that…worse, somehow?” Yang asked.

“Yang, the _Kingfisher_ is the Atlas navy’s pride and joy! If _they’re_ after us, we must have a huge price on our heads!”

“Just wait until we storm that naval fort,” Yang muttered.

“No, I don’t think so,” Ruby said. “They were probably in the area, saw us, and decided to try and catch us.”

“So…the plan?” Weiss asked.

“Run,” Ruby said, nodding to herself. “Running sounds good. Yang? Care to tell the crew?”

“On it.”

Yang vaulted over the railing overlooking the deck and landed back on the box she used to make her announcement earlier.

“Change of plans!” she shouted. “Full mast! We’ve got a man-of-war after us, and I for one am _not_ ready to relinquish our rum stash!”

The ship lurched suddenly, and Yang stumbled off the box, grabbing onto the railing on the side of the ship to keep from tumbling over. “Ruby! What’s going on up there?”

“They started firing on us!” Ruby called back down. Then, louder, for the whole crew to hear, “You all might want to hold onto something!”

“Shit,” Yang grunted as a cannonball landed dangerously close to the ship. “It’s not even noon!”

The ship jerked again as the _Kingfisher_ fired on them from behind, and Yang heard several curses from Weiss up above. Before she could give her a lecture on teaching her sister bad words, a cannonball hit the back end of the ship and sent her to the deck.

As luck (or maybe misfortune) would have it, Yang landed directly in front of one newly appointed sailor, who was hugging the mast desperately as the ship lurched again.

“Welcome to the _Crescent Rose!”_ Yang told her with a laugh before the sheer horror at falling in front of Blake _again_ could set in. Then she was up on her feet again and dashing to the helm, where Weiss had a determined look on her face and Ruby had her giant cutlass shoved into the wood of the deck to keep herself standing.

“What’s the plan, Ruby?” Yang asked, sparing a glance behind the ship, where the _Kingfisher_ was gaining on them.

“Something crazy, what else did you expect?” Weiss declared, spinning the wheel of the ship to avoid a mortar shot that splashed into the water dangerously close.

“There’s a set of islands nearby that Pyrrha told me about,” Ruby said, her grip on her cutlass bone-white. “We can squeeze through, but they can’t.”

“And if they decide to follow us around the islands?”

“We’ll have a head start?” Ruby said, cocking her head. “Do you have a better idea?”

“Nope,” Yang said. “Step to it, Weiss!”

A sigh. “Aye, aye, Miss Xiao Long.”

“Why is that sail still at half mast?” Yang shouted out. “Bring us to full sail! Your captain’s got a plan!”

“She always does,” someone said.

Yang latched onto the railing as Weiss turned the ship, _hard,_ toward the starboard side. Up on the mast, the sailors stumbled, and Yang cursed. They should be able to keep their balance, but any more turns like that and they’d be shark bait.

It wasn’t long before the islands in question came into view. They didn’t have much on them, but the beaches spread far enough that the _Kingfisher_ would have to make a wide arc around to catch them again.

But the path between the islands…

“Ruby, are you sure we can make that?” Yang shouted, unable to tear her eyes away from the pair of islands. “It’s…it’s really narrow!”

“Yes!” Ruby called back. “Maybe! Kind of?”

“Ruby! Can we make it or not?”

_“Do you have any better ideas?”_

“Not really!”

Yang looked down at the deck and pointed at Nora. “Nora! Get on those cannons!”

“YES!”

“The rest of you, get ready to bring those sails back down to half mast!” The ship would be more precise if it was slower. She hoped.

“Almost there!” Pyrrha’s voice exclaimed.

The _Kingfisher_ fired another, large round of cannonballs. Most missed, but a few clipped the side of the ship, sending wood chips flying and crew members sliding.

“It’s not even noon,” Yang said to herself. “It’s not even _noon!”_

Below the _Crescent Rose,_ the water turned a lighter shade of blue as they reached the shallows. Yang could feel her pulse in her fingertips. If this didn’t work…

“Ruby Rose, if this ship does not fit between those two islands I am going to―”

“Now!” Yang shouted as the ship reached the islands. “Half sail! _Now!”_

A long string of curses broke out from Weiss as the ship _just barely_ scraped into the channel between two islands, eliciting a grinding sound of wood on rock and making the whole ship shake. Above them, the sail rolled back up to half mast. Behind them, the _Kingfisher_ broke off pursuit to try and go around.

“Little sister, you are a genius!” Yang said, but over the sound of sand grating the underside of the ship, she doubted that anyone heard her.

It didn’t take much longer for the _Crescent Rose_ to emerge from between the islands, the _Kingfisher_ in the far distance. Yang let out a sigh of relief and eased her death grip on the railing in front of her as the ship glided into the dismal amount of fog that was left.

“See?” Ruby said, giving Weiss a smug look. “That wasn’t too bad.”

Yang wiped sweat from her brow and walked back over to them. “You say that every time.”

“And we’re still here, aren’t we?” Ruby’s silver eyes were wide and full of indignation.

Yang chuckled. “That we are, captain. Where to next?”

“Talk to Pyrrha. I actually…have no idea where we are. We could be headed back to Argus for all I know.”

“Great. Well, at least we can get away from that big ship now. We should be able to lose them in the mist.” Yang put her hands on her knees for dramatic effect. “Whew. Remind me to get some rum from Ren later.”

After a much-deserved eye-roll from Weiss, and an instruction from Yang to the crew to once again return to full sail, the _Crescent Rose_ was once again underway. Down on the deck, Blake looked somewhat stupefied by the turn of events. Yang managed to catch her eye (on accident) and winked at her (to cover her embarrassment at being caught staring).

But, of course, something always had to go wrong. At least it waited half an hour.

“Captain!” a voice cried out. “We’ve got a problem!”

“Another one?” Yang asked, leaning out over the railing and squinting into the mist. What else could there _possibly_ ―

Oh. Well.

“Shit.”

The _Crescent Rose_ may have escaped the ship behind them by diving between two islands, but now they’d just positioned themselves right in front of another Atlas ship. Nearly sailed right into the big freighter, in fact.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Yang said.

**|||**

“MAN THE CANNONS!” Nora barked out. Next to her, Yang winced and covered her ears. “FIRE ON MY MARK!”

“Yang! Climb the mast!” Ruby called out. “Remember Haven?”

“How could I forget?” Yang yelled back, vaulting over a cannon and landing at the base of the mast. “You coming?”

“Wouldn’t miss it! Weiss, get us close to that ship!”

“You’re both insane!”

“And you love us!”

Yang jumped up and grabbed the hook hanging down from the mast, and stomped on the pedal below right as Ruby ran up and grabbed her hand. They’d made sure that these mechanisms were installed after they’d taken the ship in the first place.

The pair shot up toward the mast like a musket ball from a gun as the other ship in the water, the _Lancer,_ swerved far too close to the _Crescent Rose._ Clumsily, Yang landed on the crossmast and tugged her sister up after her, nearly tipping herself over in the process. They both had plenty of experience balancing at tall heights, but the game was different when the ship was under attack.

“Get those cannons ready, Nora!” Ruby called down.

“YOU GOT IT, CAPTAIN!”

“By the gods, I’m going to die here,” someone said. Yang had a suspicion the voice belonged to a certain black-haired cat faunus.

She spared a look at her sister. “You’d think the Atlas elites would stop falling for this.”

Then she was forced to hug the central mast as Weiss jerked the ship around, lining it up with the _Lancer_ and keeping it steady.

“Now, Nora!”

“FIRE!”

_BOOM BOOM!_

Two ships fired on each other at once; wood flew everywhere, sailors braced for impact, and the captain and first mate of the _Crescent Rose_ swung over to the enemy ship.

Yang landed on an Atlas sailor’s shoulders and immediately pushed off, sending the poor man flying. Her second landing was on the deck, a few yards away from her sister. The sailors around them blinked in confusion before their captain shouted out an order and Yang and Ruby were under attack.

It was really a simple trick, something that Ruby had figured out ages ago, back when the _Crescent Rose_ had been a little short-staffed. Throw two good enough fighters in the center of an enemy ship, and it was chaos. In their distraction, the _Crescent Rose_ would be free to either fire again or send even more fighters over. They’d learned the hard way after the first time that it would only be safe for Ruby and Yang if the ship fired chain shots at the enemy ship’s sails, otherwise they were just as much at risk as the ship they were firing on.

Yang rolled up her sleeves and sidestepped a cutlass aimed for her face, punching the owner’s wrist with her left hand to force him to drop his sword before slamming her right fist into the bottom of his chin. She immediately twisted to catch another sailor’s cutlass on her metal forearm, kicking his knee out and punching him in the face as he fell to the deck. 

“ON YOUR RIGHT!” Nora’s voice came, and Yang looked up to see Nora swinging over to the _Lancer_ with a large hammer in one hand. The second she landed, she swung it into the stomach of an Atlas soldier, whose eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he went flying overboard.

“Hehe,” she chuckled, patting Yang on the shoulder. “Brawl buddies.”

Yang grinned. “Sure, Nora. Just find Ruby and give her some support.”

“You got it, Quartermaster!”

She watched Nora go, then remembered that she was in the middle of a battle and caught a cutlass with her metal gauntlet. 

“Bad idea,” she told the idiot who’d tried to catch her unawares. She jerked his sword to the side to throw him off balance and kicked him in the stomach, then the nose. He stumbled backwards, clutching his face.

Of course, Yang was still on a large ship surrounded by Atlas sailors, and they obviously didn’t like her beating the stuffing out of their friends. Even with more of the _Crescent Rose_ ’s sailors swinging over to the ship, it wasn’t long before Yang was surrounded.

Yang skipped back a few steps and raised her fists, eyes darting around as Atlas sailors gathered around her, all brandishing (obnoxiously polished) cutlasses in her direction. They closed in around her, about five of them, all intent on spilling red on the (formerly pristine) deck of the _Lancer._

Yang cracked her knuckles as sailors surrounded her, then swung her arms as she squared up to them. “Hullo, boys. You wouldn’t happen to want to throw _yourselves_ overboard, would you?”

 _“Yang!”_ someone shouted.

The sound spurred the sailors into action. When one lunged for her, Yang drew her pistols from inside her coat and slammed the butt of one into his face. As she twisted to knee him in the nose, she pointed her other pistol at another sailor and fired, then ducked a swipe from a cutlass that would have taken her head off.

“Catch!” she told the offending soldier, throwing her now-empty pistol at his face. The bright yellow weapon, flashing in the sunlight, flew right toward his face, startling him into taking a step backwards and dropping his sword just the smallest amount. Yang twirled out of the way of another sword thrust and used her momentum to punch the man in the face, _hard._ She didn’t even pause to watch him hit the deck before tossing her remaining pistol to her flesh hand and raising her prosthetic arm over her head.

_Clang!_

The overhead blow from one of the remaining goons’ cutlass hit the golden metal of her prosthetic arm and could go no further. The Atlas thug had just a moment to look utterly shocked before a savage grin split Yang’s face and she shot him in the knee.

Dropping her second pistol, Yang raised both hands and turned to face the last of the sailors who had tried to outnumber her.

“Care to reconsider that whole ‘throwing yourself overboard’ thing?” she said, not even trying to hide her cocky grin.

His only response was to swing his cutlass in a wide arc toward her head, yelling something incoherently and looking absolutely livid.

 _Fine,_ Yang thought. _Suit yourself._

She hardly even moved, lifting her hand and catching his blade with the battle gauntlet that protected her other arm. It was a simple matter to tug his sword out of his grip, hit him in the gut with the handle, and kick him in the head when he doubled over hard enough to knock his teeth out.

And just like that, it was over. Yang dusted herself off, examining herself for injuries that she already knew weren’t there. Once she was satisfied that she wasn’t bleeding anywhere, she bent over to pick up her discarded pistols. As she did, she happened to see Blake―now on the enemy ship and holding her cheap cutlass in one hand―staring at her, mouth open, cheeks red.

Yang blinked, and the woman was gone. She immediately decided that she must have imagined it―there was no way that she was lucky enough to make someone as cool and collected as _Blake_ blush. Yang shook her head to recenter herself. There was still a ship to take.

She cracked her knuckles and got back to work.

**|||**

As it turned out, there really wasn’t much more work to be done. The crew members of the _Lancer_ were no match for those of the _Crescent Rose_ , and it didn’t take them much longer to realize it. After a few more pirates made it over, the enemy sailors threw their weapons down as a sign of surrender. In a well-practiced routine, the pirates emptied the _Lancer_ of any and all supplies, except the ones that the Atlas sailors would need until someone could come to rescue them. Considering there was a massive man-of-war somewhere in the area, it wouldn’t take too long. As much as the crew members had issues with Atlas and their sailors, they would not leave them to die or sink their ship while the crew members were still aboard. Yang caught Blake’s smile when she realized that and felt a little warmer inside.

“So,” Yang said to her as she set down a crate of supplies. “How’s your time aboard the _Crescent Rose_ going so far? Too crazy of a first day for you?”

Yang was reward with another one of those _smirks._

“So far, so good,” Blake said. “I’m looking forward to working here.”

Yang smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writing fight scenes is hard but damn if they don't make me feel cool when i read them afterwards
> 
> ignore the chapter name it made more sense in my head
> 
> also???? almost a thousand hits????? thank you all so much!! i saw it and did a little squirmy dance cuz what writer doesn't doubt that people will actually read their work, right?????


	7. Saving a Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang tries her hand at flirting.

The next few days passed rather uneventfully, at least compared to what they were used to. They were still in Atlas waters for the moment, but with the  _ Kingfisher _ still somewhere near, they were forced to lay low for the time being.

Even so, there was no shortage of tasks to accomplish aboard the  _ Crescent Rose. _ After their battle with the  _ Lancer, _ and a narrow escape from the sector’s resident man-of-war, there were plenty of repairs to make. Some of them were miniscule; an extra fitting to a cannon here, a replaced line there. Others were a bit more problematic, like the  _ holes  _ in the side of the ship.

Fortunately, they had a guy for that. When Sun had joined the crew, he’d managed to pull some strings to get his buddy Neptune, who owned a ship repair company despite his crippling fear of water, to looked after the  _ Crescent Rose. _ Currently, he and his business were on an island not too far from where the  _ Crescent Rose  _ had taken on the  _ Lancer _ , so luck seemed to be on their side for once.

According to Pyrrha, Whaletail Island and was the home of a few small settlements that were just getting their start. It made sense for a repair company to set up shop on the island―what with all the ship traffic in the area―but why  _ Neptune  _ of all people would elect to live in a place surrounded by water on all sides was anyone’s guess. When Yang asked Sun about it, he suggested it probably had something to do with a woman―or multiple women, as Weiss was quick to point out.

(“Neptune’s  _ type _ is ‘woman,” she’d huffed, eliciting snorts from Sun and Yang, who’d both witnessed first hand the disastrous results of Weiss and Neptune’s fling.)

But, as much as Neptune may have been a bit of a dingdong (Sun’s words), he did run a good repair company, and even gave the  _ Crescent Rose  _ a discount whenever they needed his services. Just a few days after they pulled into port, the ship was in top shape and ready for another round of action.

“Huh,” Yang heard Blake comment when she arrived at the ship the day after repairs were completed. She’d gotten into the habit of arriving early in the morning. Yang tried not to read too much into it. “You know, I never noticed before. This is an Atlas ship, right?”

Yang blinked at her, in the middle of carrying a crate up the ramp to the ship. Most new crew members didn’t pick up on that so quickly. “I…yeah. How could you tell?”

“All Atlas ships have those annoying little windows and fancy lamps in the back,” Blake said, very matter-of-factly. Not for the first time and certainly not for the last, Yang found herself wondering just where the so-called mystery woman had come from.

Still, Yang found herself chuckling. “Yeah, I think Weiss would kill us if we tried to get rid of them.”

Now Blake was the one who was chuckling. “I’ll never understand how you were able to get  _ Weiss Schnee _ to like you.”

Yang gasped dramatically and pressed a hand to her chest. “Why, Blake! Are you implying that I am not an utter  _ delight _ to be around?”

Blake giggled into her hand. “Of course not. I’m implying that  _ Weiss Schnee _ might not be at first glance.”

Yang cracked a smile at that. “Yeah, well, punch a girl’s prick of a father in the face, you earn some good will with her.”

A pause.

_ “You punched Jacques Schnee in the face?” _

“With her metal arm, too!” Ruby’s voice came. “It was  _ awesome!” _

Yang turned to find Ruby and Weiss standing on the other end of the small dock. Both seemed somewhat pleased by the memory. Weiss was just better at hiding it.

“I wasn’t there to witness it,” she said, an amused curl to her mouth. “But…it  _ was _ pretty awesome.”

Yang laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her neck. The way Blake was looking at her―like she was some valiant hero who had slain a giant monster―made her feel…well, it made her feel like she had after she’d returned to the sea for the first time in years. Like a cool summer’s night breeze was blowing through her chest, soothing aches and pains she hadn’t known she’d had.

“Nice new gear, Blake,” Weiss said, changing the subject tactfully when the moment stretched on too long.

Again, Yang blinked in surprise. She’d been so caught up in her conversation with Blake that she hadn’t even noticed the new gear Weiss spoke of.

The buccaneer coat Blake wore wasn’t  _ entirely _ new. With a dark exterior and a violet lining, it had struck Yang dumb for approximately three seconds the first time she’d seen it a few days ago. What  _ was _ new were the two new cutlasses sitting on Blake’s hips.

From the looks of them, they were several cuts above the cutlass she’d been using before. Yang couldn’t see much of them while they were sheathed and hidden in the depths of Blake’s coat, but judging from the burnished dark metal of the hilts, they meant serious business.

“Oh, those are so cool!” Ruby, ever the weapons nut, exclaimed, hopping over. “Where’d you get them? This place hardly has two inns, let alone a blacksmithery.”

Blake closed up all at once, like a clam. She seemed to shrink into herself, gripping her elbow in a manner that Yang instantly recognized as insecure and nervous.

“I’ve, uh, been here. Before. I left some things behind, and managed to find it yesterday.”

It didn’t sound like a lie, but it also didn’t sound like the whole truth. And if  _ Yang  _ could pick up on that, then  _ Weiss _ definitely could.

“So what’s on the agenda today, Captain Ruby?” Yang quickly said before Weiss could even open her mouth, though she still had plenty of time to narrow her eyes.

Ruby, as hyperactive as ever, took the bait. “Sailing!” she exclaimed with a finger pointed in the air for dramatic effect. She slouched a little. “Lots of sailing. We’re going to hang out around Patch until the  _ Kingfisher _ gets tired of looking for us.” A long sigh. “But it’s  _ sooooo _ far away!”

Yang couldn’t help physically brightening at the mention of Patch. It had been some time since they’d been home, and no one who lived on the small island was a snitch. It would be good to see their dad again, too.

“Well, let’s get to work, then!” Yang exclaimed, successfully steering the conversation away from Blake’s past, whatever that may be, and back to the matter at hand. Weiss gave her a strange look, but if Yang was anything, she was well practiced at ignoring those.

It was only when Blake gave Yang a grateful squeeze on the arm as she passed her that Yang realized just how much the other woman appreciated the gesture.

**|||**

Yang didn’t usually jump at the chance to show off  _ genuinely _ , but on the rare occasion that she did, it was usually for a good reason. One of those  _ rare occasions _ just so happened to rear its head a few hours later, when the ship was back on the ocean.

Oscar was the  _ Crescent Rose _ ’s resident musician, and just as much of a sweetheart as Ruby. When they’d originally taken (stolen) the ship, he was the first recruit―he’d been on the ship before, as an Atlas musician, and the crew immediately took a liking to him. He was more than willing to go along with them, considering that they treated him better than the Atlas sailors did (something he admitted freely within five minutes of knowing them). If Yang was the crew’s older sister, then Oscar was the crew’s younger brother. Everyone loved him, and many of them had started fights after people had tried to pick on him in port. Mostly Nora.

Oscar wasn’t a half bad musician, either. He usually played when the crew had meals, and in Yang’s personal opinion, he was better than most tavern musicians. When he had first started, it had been a bit amusing to watch him blush and stumble his way through the…raunchier pirate shanties or tavern songs. Now, though, the crew members usually requested the more innocent songs. There were a few that were popular, including―

“Yang!” Nora whisper-shouted (well, more like  _ shouted _ -shouted), elbowing Yang in the side so hard that she stumbled off her seat on a crate to her feet clumsily. “Sing the song!”

Yang frowned, pretending to be clueless. “What song? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

But Nora’s words had spread like wildfire to the rest of the crew, and someone else (Weiss, judging from the smug curve of her mouth and the civilized cross of her legs) had shoved Ruby forward as well. Oscar shot them an apologetic look and Yang could only chuckle. For as often as this happened, they really should expect this sort of behavior.

Blake caught Yang’s eye and raised a questioning eyebrow as Sun playfully shoved Yang toward Oscar, who was already starting to play a few notes in a new key on his violin. Yang shrugged and twirled her finger around her head in a  _ “she’s crazy!” _ kind of gesture in Nora’s direction. Blake rolled her eyes, but there was a hint of a smile on her mouth as Sun sat back down next to her and Velvet said something in a low voice. Next to her, Coco mouthed  _ “whipped” _ to Yang. She glared daggers at her and tried her hardest not to blush.

Determined to make some kind of positive impression, Yang turned back to Oscar and Ruby. Ruby, of course, was already grinning and practically vibrating―this was her favorite song, and their mother had taught it to them when there were young, after all. It was one of the things that Ruby  _ actually _ remembered about Summer. And…well, it was Yang’s favorite song too, and she’d been told that her singing voice could be considered attractive sometimes, and Blake was sitting  _ right there _ …who would it harm if Yang tried just a little bit harder to impress her? The woman was so mysterious and interesting (and  _ wonderful _ , though Yang didn’t particularly have the courage to think that thought just yet) that Yang couldn’t help it.

So…Yang grinned just a  _ little  _ wider and stood up just a  _ little  _ straighter as Oscar played the first few opening notes and nodded at her.

Grinning, Ruby and Yang jumped up on top of a rather wide crate. They’d started this tradition when the crew was hardly big enough to manage the  _ Crescent Rose. _ Oscar was more than happy to receive help with the music, and it was always fun for everyone involved―especially when Nora sang some of her favorite songs and started swinging Ren around in a manner that was supposed to resemble dancing but usually just looked like she was getting ready to throw him overboard.

Anywhere else, at any other time, Yang would have been embarrassed to sing in front of so many people. The Crescent Rose was a place where everyone and anyone could relax and let loose; after all, they were family. What was there to fear out here on the ocean, other than Atlas and pirate thugs? The _ Crescent Rose _ was the closest thing Yang had ever known to a home, more so than even Patch. And so, she found it easy to lift her voice in song and have  _ fun _ .

_ “Come all you young sailors and listen to me _

_ I'll sing you a song of the fish in the sea, _

_ and it's... _

_ Windy weather, what stormy weather, and _

_ When the wind blows we're all together, and _

_ Blow ye winds westerly, blow ye winds, blow _

_ Jolly sou'wester, there steady she goes.” _

Oscar played an impressive run on his violin and Yang felt a shove that had her jumping off the crate and back to the deck as Ruby stuck her tongue out at her and flexed her arms mockingly. Yang laughed, loud and carefree, and circled around the crate as Ruby took over the song, her voice as pure and innocent and beautiful as ever.

_ “Up jumps the eel with his slippery tail, _

_ Climbs up aloft and reefs the topsail, _

_ and it's… _

_ Windy weather, what stormy weather, and _

_ When the wind blows we're all together, and _

_ Blow ye winds westerly, blow ye winds, blow _

_ Jolly sou'wester, there steady she goes.” _

Yang hopped back on top of the crate and gave Ruby a quick noogie―much to the amusement of the surrounded sailors―before hip-bumping her off the makeshift stage and sticking her own tongue out at her. Ruby pouted, but her disappointment was quickly replaced by that endless energy of hers as she dragged Weiss and Penny out in order to get them dancing. The rest of the crew quickly followed her example, dancing clumsily and making Yang crack a smile as she opened her mouth to continue the song. As she did, she spotted Blake, a full smile gracing her lips and making Yang weak in the knees for just a moment before the most wonderful of ideas popped into her head.

_ “Then up jumps the shark with his nine rows of teeth _

_ Saying, 'You eat the dough boys, and I'll eat the beef!'” _

Yang rolled her sleeve up and flexed her human arm very blatantly in Blake’s direction, punctuating the gesture with a wink that was  _ definitely  _ pushing the boundaries of platonic. At least Yang was doing it on purpose this time. She looked away before she could see the result, but the loud peals of laughter she heard from Coco, Velvet, and Sun made Yang grin wider in triumph.

Yang had just enough time to finish the chorus before Ruby hopped back onto the crate, dodged Yang’s half-hearted push, and kicked her off.

Yang couldn’t find it in herself to be bothered. She had something else in mind.

It took very little effort for her to make her way through the now fairly-sized crowd of dancing pirates over to one of the few who wasn’t dancing. Blake looked up at her with a faint flush coloring her cheeks (which Yang desperately hoped wasn’t part of her imagination), though her expression was guarded. When Yang held out her hand, surprise flickered in Blake’s eyes.

“As quartermaster, I believe your first dance aboard this ship is a very momentous occasion,” Yang said, giving Blake her best smile.

“I…” Blake looked down at Yang’s outstretched hand, then back up at her. “I’m not much of a dancer.”

“Oh, come on. You can’t be any worse than Pyrrha or Jaune.” To accentuate her point, Yang nodded over at the pair, who were doing some sort of strange hop-skip dance combination that didn’t make a lick of sense to the outside observer but was no doubt fun for the pair of them, judging by the smiles on their faces.

Blake smiled at the sight, but her hand quickly flew to her elbow, indecision and nervousness written all over her face. “I…don’t know, Yang. Maybe some other time.”

Yang immediately softened her expression, knowing that for the moment, she was asking for too much of the woman. “Okay, Blake. Some other time. Just…just know I’ll be saving you a dance.”

Blake’s smile returned at that, infinitely softer and more genuine than the ones before. “Thank you. I’ll…keep that in mind.”

Yang’s grin returned, and she couldn’t help but send one more wink in her direction before heading back over to the crate to finish the song, not without a skip in her step.

She couldn’t quite explain it, but there was just something about that woman that made Yang want to wait through a thousand songs just to have  _ one  _ dance with her.

Hopefully, Yang wouldn’t have to wait too long. But she would if she had to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i feel like i should mention that i have no idea how ship repair works other than through video games so that part might not be the most accurate? it's fanfiction tho so fuck accuracy right ahaha...
> 
> anyway i had this weird fixation with sea shanties for a while but it really makes painting your room go faster yknow? anyway this particular shanty is called fish of the sea if any of y'all wanna look it up. also you can pry violin oscar from my cold dead hands
> 
> spot the atla reference i dare you


	8. Bats and Rum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Crescent Rose faces another foe, and Yang and Blake have a talk.

As it always was aboard the _Crescent Rose,_ trouble seemed to follow them wherever they went. Hardly a week had gone by before the ship was the target of yet another attack, although this time there were no Atlesians involved, unless one counted Weiss.

In fact, Yang was right in the middle of hustling Weiss, Jaune, and Ruby out of their winnings (coffee for Weiss and Jaune, cookies for Ruby) in poker―much to the amusement of Velvet, Coco, Blake, and Pyrrha, the only ones who were actually any good at the game―when Yatsuhashi raised his voice.

“Captain! There’s a ship headed straight for us!” he yelled.

Ruby was on her feet in an instant, hand resting on her cutlass. “Atlesians?”

“Pirates,” Ren pointed out, a spyglass in his hand. “The… _Chiroptera_.”

Yang sighed, and put her cards down. “Well, there really is no rest for the wicked, is there?”

“Battle stations!” Ruby shouted, as Weiss ran back up to the top deck to take the wheel back from Fox. Yang ran over to a cannon and looked over the side of the ship to observe who was chasing them.

“Oh,” she said, her brow furrowing. “This is gonna be easy.”

The ship in question was considerably smaller than the _Crescent Rose,_ though still considered a frigate. Why it was choosing to go after them of all people was probably foolish on their part, but fortunate for the _Crescent Rose._

It wasn’t terribly difficult to turn the ship around to face the oncoming one, and as soon as they did, the _Chiroptera_ zoomed forward, the wind propelling the smaller ship at a high speed, and opened fire as soon as it was parallel to the _Crescent Rose._

“Brace yourselves!” Ruby shouted.

But the cannon fire was not quite what they were expecting. Instead of cannonballs raining down on the deck, hooks shot out of the cannons and broke through the side of the ship, attached to chains that were soon pulled taut as the _Chiroptera_ pulled them in.

Yang looked over at Ruby, who looked just as shocked as she felt.

“That’s unexpected,” Ruby said. “Nora, are those cannons ready?”

“Not many of them, captain!”

“Fire anyway!”

_BOOM!_

The cannon shots slammed into the _Chiroptera_ at close range, sending large fragments of wood planks flying along with a few enemy pirates. Once upon a time, Yang would have had to cover her ears and take a few steps back to recover from the sound and the sights that assaulted her eyes. Now, though, Yang rolled her sleeves up and turned back to the rest of the crew as the _Chiroptera_ finished pulling the _Crescent Rose_ in.

“Prepare to board!” she shouted, pulling out her pistols. As one of the other ship’s sailors tried to swing over, she shot them off the rope. They fell into the sea with a large splash.

Nora swung a rope Yang’s way with a savage grin, and she caught it in her elbow, holstering her empty pistol and gripping the rope more firmly. Yang turned to look at her sister, who had just knocked an enemy pirate over the side of the ship as well.

“Yang, go!” Ruby said, brandishing her cutlass. “The more people we send over there, the less people they’ll send over here!”

“On it!”

Yang took a few steps back and jumped over the side of the ship, swinging over to the _Chiroptera_ with a few other pirates from the _Crescent Rose_.

She landed in front of a particularly tall bat faunus who could only be the captain, judging by his expensive, embroidered clothes.

“Ehehe,” Yang said, lifting her fists. “Nice ship you have here.”

The man grunted at her, drew his sword, and slashed at her in one fluid motion. Yang lifted her prosthetic arm and caught the blow before lashing out with her other fist and punching him in the gut.

The faunus hardly even reacted, merely giving Yang a horrible grin and pressing his sword harder into the metal of Yang’s prosthetic arm.

_Well, this is going to be fun._

Yang hopped back and raised her one loaded pistol, but the bat faunus batted it out of her hand with the flat side of his sword. Yang cursed and ducked the cutlass that swung over her head, landing two more swift punches to the man’s gut before she was forced to catch the faunus’s blade with her hands, mere inches from her face.

His wings gave him an edge in the speed department, she’d have to give him that. And judging from the strength with which he pushed the sword at her, he wasn’t a pushover in that department either.

 _Fight smarter, not harder, Yang,_ her father had told her. Now was as good a time as any to continue that practice.

Yang spat in the man’s face, and when he recoiled, she hooked her leg behind his knee and _pulled._

The result was instantaneous. He went flying forward, toward the railing, and his sword just _barely_ passed by Yang’s face, nicking her on the cheek but otherwise causing no harm to her. She skipped out of the way as his ribs rammed into the railing of the ship, hard, and picked her pistol up off the ground.

“Yuma!” one of the enemy pirates shouted, and Yang was forced to turn the pistol on her as the woman charged in. A shot to the knee sent her to the deck, and Yang had half a moment to catch her breath before the _whoosh_ of air behind her alerted her to another swing of a cutlass.

Yang dove to the floor, coming up in a roll and turning to face Yuma with eyes narrowed and fists at the ready once again. He raised his sword and took a step forward, cutlass swinging for Yang’s head in a wide arc―

―before a foot slammed into his face and sent him crashing to the deck.

Blake landed with her cutlasses extended before her, face the perfect image of determination. The metal of her swords shone in the sun, despite the dark material they were crafted out of. Her coat flapped in the wind, and Yang could do nothing but gape.

Yuma spat out a bloody tooth and stumbled to his feet, gripping his own cutlass with white knuckles. When he saw Blake, his eyes widened, then narrowed in rage.

“You―”

Yang kicked up a broken board from the deck, caught it in both hands, and whipped it across Yuma’s face as hard as she could. The bat faunus collapsed against the railing and did not get up again.

Yang panted for a moment, then looked over at Blake. “Have I mentioned that I love it when you’re feisty?”

Blake smirked at her, though this time Yang could _definitely_ tell that her face was flushed (which was no small boost to her ego).

“Then I guess you’re in for a treat,” Blake said, nodding over at the fight still happening at the rest of the ship. “We’ve still got work to do, Miss Xiao Long.”

 _Oh,_ Yang thought, a dumb smile spreaidng across her face. _Yeah, I’m definitely in trouble._

And she almost didn’t mind.

**|||**

The ensuing fight was the talk of the ship, much to the embarrassment of Blake and Yang. Ruby wouldn’t shut up about it, no matter how many times Yang begged her in private.

“Oh, come on, Yang!” Ruby said, sitting upside down at her desk several hours later. Her feet swung in the air. “It’s not my fault that you two work so well together!”

Yang, head buried in her hands, merely groaned in response. “Ruby. _Please._ I am going to _die_ if you keep this up.”

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic,” Weiss commented. “If anything, you should take all the gossip as a complement.”

“Weiss. I will _die._ ”

“Yaaaang!” Ruby said, and Yang heard her sit up straight. “It was so _cool!_ When Blake gave you a boost up to hit those three guys at once!” She squealed in excitement.

“You two do fight rather well together,” Weiss said.

“ _Dying._ Right now. No heartbeat.” Yang’s face was burning against her hands.

“Okay, okay,” Ruby said, and Yang dared to part her fingers to peek out at her. Ruby was grinning, but she kept silent.

Yang sighed and removed her hands from her face, flopping back on her cot. “It…was kinda cool, wasn’t it?”

“Very! It―”

_Smack!_

Yang looked over to see Weiss’s hand slapped over Ruby’s mouth. Ruby gave her a thumbs up, and Yang rolled her eyes fondly.

“Anyone else notice how those guys were all faunus?” Yang said, trying to divert to conversation away from her.

“I was _wondering_ when one of you was going to point that out,” Weiss said with a toss of her hair, uncovering Ruby’s mouth.

The captain immediately pouted. “I was getting there! I don’t get to embarrass my big sister all that often, okay?”

For once, Weiss and Yang rolled their eyes in unison.

“Anyway,” Weiss said. “Who else have we heard of who uses a faunus-only crew?”

Silence for a moment. Then:

 _“Adam Taurus,”_ Ruby growled.

“You think they were working for _him?”_ Yang spat with a scowl.

“I think we’d be fools to rule it out,” Weiss said. Her arms were crossed and her brow furrowed. She’d never met Taurus―for which she was grateful―but everyone had heard stories about what that monster had done. Yet despite being number one on Atlas’s most wanted list, he and his crew remained uncaptured.

Yang sat up, crossing her arms. “Even if the _Chiroptera_ was working for Taurus, why would they pick a fight with _us?_ Even with their fancy hook trick, they were clearly outmatched. I don’t get it.”

“His pirates have never been interested in us before,” Ruby agreed. “This was probably just a fluke.”

“Even if it _was_ just a fluke, we should still be careful,” Weiss said, brow furrowed in thought. “And this is all just assuming that those faunus even work for that monster in the first place.”

“Ugh,” Yang groaned, massaging her temples. She was already starting to get another headache. “I am nowhere _near_ drunk enough to be talking about this.”

Weiss reached into the trunk at the end of Yang’s bed and pulled out a fresh bottle of rum for her, tossing it over with a scoff. Yang accepted it gratefully and took a swig or two out of it, already anticipating nightmares that night.

“I think that’s where we should leave it for tonight,” Ruby said, standing from her chair. “Weiss, make sure to put some distance between us and the _Chiroptera_ , just in case. Looks like some of us are going to be pulling an all-nighter.”

Yang stood up and stretched, still holding the bottle of rum in her hand. “I volunteer.”

“Yang.” That was Weiss, who knew damn well what Yang was really doing. “You need to sleep.”

Yang waved her off. “I’ll be fine. I’ll steal some coffee from Coco and pay her off in the morning.”

It was relatively easy to quell their concerns when she promised the both of them that she wouldn’t finish the bottle of alcohol in her hand. As Weiss and Ruby went up to the top deck of the ship, Yang massaged her headache with one hand and held tight to the bottle of rum in her other as she emerged from the captain’s quarters.

She sighed and made her way over to the railing at the side of the ship, resting her arms there and closing her eyes to hear the ocean better. That usually helped whenever her brain started to ache.

It took her a moment, but eventually she felt a presence join her. Yang let just a small smile split her lips and, without opening her eyes, said, “Crazy day, huh?”

Beside her, Blake snorted. “You’re telling me. Sun won’t shut up about how _awesome_ we are.”

Yang chuckled, feeling the cool ocean breeze cool her blush as she opened her eyes and turned to look at the other woman. “Sorry about that. Remember what I said before about pirates needing something to gossip about?”

Blake rolled her eyes and leaned against the railing to Yang’s left. “Well, you certainly weren’t wrong.”

“No I was not,” Yang replied with another chuckle, taking another sip from the bottle in her hand. When she finished, she caught Blake eyeing it and handed it over with a raised eyebrow. Blake flushed ever so slightly, but she accepted it and took a swig.

“They’re not wrong, though,” Yang somehow found the courage to say as she watched Blake’s throat bob absentmindedly. “You really are pretty awesome with those cutlasses of yours.”

Blake lowered the bottle and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as she handed the drink back to Yang. “You’re not so bad yourself, Yang.”

Yang quickly gulped down some rum before she could begin to overanalyze _that_ statement. The alcohol sat in her stomach, warming her limbs against the coolness of the night.

She had about a thousand questions she could ask, but instead she only passed the rum back to Blake and stared back out at the ocean, only sneaking the occasional glance at the woman beside her lest she become _too_ distracted.

(Even though the moonlight really suited her, with her dark hair waving in the breeze and her eyes shining in the night, and…)

They were quiet for a little bit, passing the bottle back and forth between them. It was a comfortable silence, which Yang couldn’t say she’d shared with too many people. She was often expected to be the loud and boisterous one, so it was nice to get a reprieve, if only for a little bit.

“Why haven’t you asked me any questions?” Blake suddenly asked in a quiet voice.

Yang blinked, nearly dropping the bottle of rum in the ocean as she turned to face her. “Huh?”

Blake was gripping her arm in that nervous manner of hers again. “Earlier. When Ruby asked where I found my swords. You stopped them from prying.” She frowned, looking down at the deck. “Why aren’t you asking me where I’m from? What I did before?”

Yang felt something in her chest break a little at the expression on Blake’s face; like she was _used_ to being constantly questioned and doubted. Yang turned to face her fully, keeping her expression open and honest.

“I already told you, Blake. You don’t owe us anything. Whatever your story is, it’s _yours_ to tell, whenever you’re ready.” She couldn’t help her flesh hand from touching the metal of her other arm just for a moment. “Believe me, I know what it’s like to have things in your past that you’d rather forget.”

Blake’s golden eyes flickered down to Yang’s arm for a moment before looking back up at her. She still seemed unsure of herself, and sighed after a moment.

“What you said before, the day you showed me around the ship.” Blake’s eyes strayed to the main sail behind Yang, where the symbols of all the crew members flew in the wind. They’d yet to add her symbol, but most new members usually needed some time to figure out what that would be, or even if they wanted to stay. “About the people here being a family. I…” She took a breath, then looked back at Yang. “I think I’d like to be part of it. I just…there’s so much I…”

Yang watched her for a moment, then reached out her hand and squeezed Blake’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay. You’ll be a welcome addition to this ragtag little family of ours. You can be like…the favorite aunt or something.”

Blake’s expression flickered into one of amusement. “Funny, I thought that would have been you.”

Yang snorted at that, but didn’t let herself get distracted by the expression of humor. “Look, you don’t have to tell us anything. But if you want to, we can take it slow. One thing at a time, right?”

Blake stared at her for a moment before the corner of her mouth lifted up into a smile. “I…yeah. I’d like that.”

“Great!” Yang exclaimed, clapping her hands together before remembering that she was still holding a fragile glass bottle and laughing nervously. “Okay, then, let’s start simple. What’s your surname?”

Blake froze immediately, and once again Yang understood that she’d pushed too far too soon. Before she could even begin to take it back, Blake was speaking.

“I…” she started. “That’s not a story I’m willing to tell just yet, if you don’t mind.”

Yang made it a point to barely hesitate before she responded. “Okay. That’s fair. We can start with something else, if you’re still okay with that?”

Blake gave her a grateful look, and her shoulders visibly untensed. “Thank you. For being so understanding.”

“Hey, my middle name is understanding!” Yang joked, jerking a thumb at herself.

“…is it actually?”

“No. It’s _danger._ ” She flexed her arms and waggled her eyebrows.

Blake giggled into her hand, smiling at the dumb joke. “I’m sure it is, Yang _Danger_ Xiao Long.”

Yang grinned crookedly at her. “There it is. You have a really nice laugh, you know.”

Immediately, her face started to burn at the admission, but it seemed to be the right thing to say, judging by the remaining smile on Blake’s face.

Yang coughed into her hand and continued. “Let’s start with something else, then. I know you’re a great sailor, but do you have any hobbies? What does our resident _mystery woman_ do in her free time?”

Another giggle. It made Yang feel like she’d accomplished something wonderful (which, in her personal opinion, she had). 

“I’ve always loved reading,” Blake replied, smiling out at the ocean. “I could never get enough of it as a child. My bookshelves were always bursting at the seams.” She chuckled softer, almost regretfully. “It drove my parents crazy.”

Yang was smart enough to be able to tell that the topic of Blake’s parents was also too much for the time being, so she didn’t chase after the mention of them. Instead, she asked, “What’s your favorite book?”

Blake sighed and rolled her eyes, though the smile on her face had lost its ruefulness. “Yang, that’s not a fair question.”

“What? It is too a fair question!”

“You can’t just ask someone what their favorite book is! That’s like…asking a mother to pick their favorite child!”

Yang started laughing about halfway through Blake’s explanation, and with each word she only started to laugh harder. She hadn’t known Blake for very long, but the sight of her worked up over _books_ of all things was one of the funniest things Yang had ever seen. It was so funny, in fact, that she had to grip hard onto the railing of the ship to keep herself from falling over.

“You―” Yang burst into laughter again, but only stopped when Blake smacked her in the arm. “―compared _books_ to _children?”_

“Shut up!” Blake said with a laugh of her own. “It’s a very serious passtime!”

Yang guffawed _harder_ , to the point where she had to grip her stomach with both hands. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see several crew members looking in their direction, but she couldn’t find it in herself to care. Not when this was the first time she’d seen Blake laughing so openly.

“Okay, but seriously,” Yang said, when she had sobered up enough. She still couldn’t stop the occasional giggle from sneaking out, though. She blamed the alcohol. “What’s _one_ of your favorite book…children?”

Blake smacked her in the arm again, and Yang thought it odd how the action only made her smile wider. “Still not a fair question, but I’ll do my best.”

Yang’s smile didn’t fade an iota as she watched Blake think about the question. She was facing the ocean, but she was clearly chewing on the inside of her cheek as her eyes wandered back and forth. 

_“The Man with Two Souls,”_ Blake said eventually, turning back to Yang. “You were…actually reading it when I woke up.”

The name instantly rung a bell. Yang nodded with a chuckle. “Yeah. It’s…an interesting read?”

Blake snorted. “It can be hard to get through the first time. But it makes me think.”

“About what?” Yang asked, her interest peaked.

Blake shrugged. “About what’s inside us.” She paused, turning to face Yang fully. “Thank you again. For not prying.”

Now it was Yang’s turn to shrug. “You don’t have to thank me. I’m just…being respectful.” She almost winced at the formality of the statement.

The other woman cocked her head. “Maybe not. But I did anyway.” She reached out to squeeze Yang’s arm again, and the gesture gave her even more warmth than before. Probably because of the alcohol. “Goodnight, Yang.”

“Goodnight.”

As Yang watched Blake walk away, she felt warm something root itself in her chest firmly.

_Yep. That’s definitely trouble._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not me finding a work around for all these action scenes so i can actually sleep for once ahaha that'd be crazy
> 
> also screw realistic ship fighting this is fanfiction and i'm the author who can do what she wants and also has been playing far too many video games in her free time
> 
> fun fact chiroptera is the family bats belong to and also they're creepy as hell


	9. Poker Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake shows Yang her way to deal with racists.

As time went on, it grew increasingly apparent that Blake belonged on the  _ Crescent Rose. _ Not only did the crew love her, but she was also a natural sailor.

Under her guidance, Sun actually learned how to tie knots properly, and she rivaled his agility when climbing up the mast. She had no fear of heights, and often ran things up and down the path to the crow nest. She was an excellent swordswoman, and had superb fishing skills, and her caffeine addiction rivaled Coco’s, though she really only drank tea.

But far more than any of those things, she was  _ kind _ and  _ compassionate. _ Yang could tell that she often hid what she was feeling behind a mask of indifference, but when it slipped, Yang couldn’t help but feel somewhat honored to witness it, whether it was actually kindness or something…a little more feisty.

After her last little scuffle in a bar, Ruby had made it some kind of rule that Yang was supposed to have a babysitter when she was in a tavern. Yang actually didn’t mind it as much as she thought she would; so far, the only one willing to accompany her (besides Nora, which everyone agreed probably wasn’t the best idea if the goal was to stay  _ out _ of fights) was Blake.

(Yang tried not to think about it, but the very idea that  _ Blake _ was willing to go drinking with her made her feel like she was a kid getting her first sailing lesson again. The giddiness it brought her was both warming and somewhat disconcerting.)

And as much as it was true that men were less willing to hit on Yang when she wasn’t alone (cowards), it also meant that when she  _ did  _ get angry nowadays, it was for a  _ very  _ good reason.

They’d just sat down at their table in a tavern located on an island somewhere off the far coast of Atlas. It was one of those towns that wasn’t very heavily patrolled, so there was plenty of shady business to be witnessed―so long as you didn’t stare too long. Unfortunately, it also meant that there were plenty of seedy fellows around, so Yang and Blake made sure to keep an eye on their purses as their drinks were delivered to them. But it wasn’t any sort of thief that caused trouble this time around.

“Hey, who let the filthy animal out of its cage?”

Blake instantly tensed as two men passed behind her, laughing at their racist joke. Her hands tightened around her glass.

“What the fuc―” Yang started, attempting to stand, fists clenched and anger burning in her chest. Blake grabbed her arm and pulled her back down almost immediately, shaking her head.

“Let them go,” she said. “Responding violently will only make them think that they’re right. Even more than they already do.”

Yang growled a curse under her breath, sitting down and watching the men sit at the poker table across the room. She  _ hated _ people who acted like that.  _ Assholes. _

She looked back at Blake to find her ears drooping just the slightest amount. Yang instantly tried to put a damper on her anger to focus on her friend instead.

“Does that sort of thing…happen a lot?” Yang asked, frowning at Blake.

The faunus sighed, the ears on her head twitching down further. “It does happen occasionally, but not usually while I’m sailing. I guess something about being stuck on a ship with someone who could slice you to pieces for an insult deters most incidents of racism.”

“Hey,” Yang said, reaching out to cover the hand Blake had on the table with her own. “I don’t think anyone aboard the  _ Crescent Rose _ is  _ that  _ much of an asshole, but I’m perfectly willing to kick someone’s ass if they say something like that. Not that you need me to.” She added the last part hastily, hoping Blake wouldn’t think that Yang thought she was some kind of damsel in distress. That was  _ far  _ from the truth.

But Blake’s eyes were kind, and full of something akin to gratefulness. She flipped her hand around to squeeze Yang’s in return. “I…thank you, Yang. I…” Blake flushed just slightly, looking away for a moment. “I wish there were more people like you out there.”

Yang blushed and looked down at their hands. “I…” She coughed.

“What’s the matter?” Blake asked, leaning closer and making Yang’s heart jump in her chest. “Cat got your tongue?”

That  _ had _ to be an innuendo.  _ Was  _ that an innuendo? Even if it was, somehow the  _ only  _ thing that Yang could think to say was, “Was that a pun?”

Blake leaned back and rolled her eyes. “You’re ridiculous.”

“No, I’m Yang.”

“Gods, how does Weiss tolerate you?”

“I happen to be very charming.” Yang  _ really _ needed to stop winking at Blake when she was nervous. That was a bad habit to start.

“You are, aren’t you?”

Yang turned red, but Blake appeared to be thinking hard about something. Her head rested against her hand―the one that wasn’t _still_ _holding_ Yang’s―and her eyes were narrowed in a way that Yang recognized as analytical.

“I have an idea to put those bigots in their place,” Blake said, looking back up at Yang with a mischievous smile. “And I need your help.”

Yang grinned. “What do I need to do?”

**|||**

It was  _ ridiculously _ easy to scam those bigots out of their money. All Yang had to do was bat her eyes at them a few times, play dumb, and mention how she and her faunus friend were looking for some opponents in poker, and let their biases assume it would be an easy win.

It was a brilliant plan, by all accounts. Yang never  _ once _ mentioned that Blake would be  _ bad  _ at cards―in fact, she probably talked her up more than anything―and yet the idiots were so sure in their racism that she was somehow  _ less _ than them that they bet big and played recklessly to match.

Blake, on the other hand, was  _ excellent  _ at poker. She had no tells that Yang could discern, and somehow always managed to get excellent cards. The two idiots played right into her hands, and Yang, though she was far from an expert in the game, still somehow managed to be better than them. After just a few rounds, they’d taken every scrap of gold the two bigots had away from them.

“Impossible!” one of the goons exclaimed as Blake won the last of his money from him. “You…you two must have cheated.”

“Aw, don’t feel so bad,” Yang said. “Maybe you’d do better if you had more gold. Oh, but look, you’re all out.”

“Shut your mouth!” the second one exclaimed, pointing an angry finger at her. “There’s no way  _ either _ of you could beat us!”

“Huh,” Blake said, flipping a gold coin into the air and catching it between two fingers. “You might want to wipe your mouth, boys. You’ve both got bullshit around your lips. Time to reconsider your biases.”

A pin could have dropped in the silence that came after her words, and everyone would have been able to hear it. Even the rest of the tavern held their breaths at at the sheer outrage on both men’s faces, and what Blake had done.

(Yang, for one, thought it was  _ hot _ .)

Then one of the men slammed a dagger into the wood of the poker table, and Yang knew it was time to leave. With that much money still sitting on the table, it was quickly going to turn into a free-for-all with these men starting a fight.

Yang stood from her chair and flipped the poker table in the direction of the racist idiots, sending gold coins flying everywhere and forcing the two bigots to take several steps backwards.

“Time to go!” Blake exclaimed, grabbing Yang’s hand and tugging her to the side before a thrown dagger could take her in the back of the neck. Together, the two of them ran to the exit of the tavern, even as most of the men in the bar behind them swarmed over the gold pieces on the floor.

Yang couldn’t help the giggles that bubbled out of her as she and Blake ran down the street hand-in-hand as the tavern devolved into chaos behind them.

“That was amazing!” she said, her gut aching with the force of her laughter.  _ “You’re _ amazing! Those asshats had no idea what hit them!”

Blake was laughing too, but they didn’t stop running until they were a few streets away. Even then, Yang had to put her hands on her thighs both in an attempt to catch her breath and to stop laughing. It didn’t take her too long after that to remember that she and Blake were still holding hands and she had just placed her friend’s hand on her thigh.

“Gah!” Yang jumped, releasing Blake’s hand and jumping away with laughter that was more nervous than anything now. “Uh…sorry!”

“It’s fine,” Blake said, covering her mouth as she continued to chuckle. “I don’t mind. And thanks for your help back there.”

Yang smiled at her. “You know, you really should stop thanking me for this sort of stuff. I’m just being a good friend.”

“Right,” Blake said, looking at her with the most beautiful kind of gold in her eyes. “Well, I’ll stop thanking you when you stop being a good  _ person, _ Yang.”

For perhaps the thousandth time, Yang blushed. Rubbing the back of her neck, she said, “Heh. Thanks, Blake. You’re not such a bad friend yourself.”

She wasn’t completely certain, but she thought she heard a  _ “I’m not too sure about that,”  _ muttered in response. Blake’s warm eyes had turned downwards, not quite as warm anymore, and full of self-doubt.

This could not stand. Not for someone as amazing as her.

“Hey,” Yang said, putting a hand on Blake’s shoulder. “You wanna get out of here? I think there’s something you can help  _ me  _ with.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well hello again! sorry it took so long to update life just got super busy for a sec. i'm not sure when the next update will be because college is starting up for me next week, but i'll try!
> 
> i hope i did okay with this chapter. as satisfying as it might be to see blake beat the shit out of a racist, i feel like in this au scamming them is more her speed. for reasons.
> 
> stay hydrated and wear your masks!


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